THE REGISTRATION DUTY ACT - COLLECTION OF DUTY

S. 25 - Registration conditional on payment
1. No document liable to duty shall be registered except on previous payment of duty leviable
s. 26 - Payment of duty
1. by the officer, in respect of any document drawn up by him or in respect of an adjudication by the Master
2. by the person who requires the services of an usher, in respect of a document drawn up or served by the usher
3. by the auctioneer, in respect of an adjudication by him
4. by the body corporate, in respect of any document of the body corporate which is liable to registration
5. by the parties, in respect of
  1. a document under private signature
  2. a document or decision emanating from arbitrators where the document or decision has not been registered by the arbitrators
6. by the person making use of the document, in respect of a document drawn up outside Mauritius
7. by the debtor, in respect of a document involving an obligation or discharge
8. by the transferee, in respect of the transfer of ownership, usufruct, right of use or occupation of property
9. by the person to whom the transfer or issue of shares is made pursuant to s. 24A.
s. 27 - Derogation from liability to duty
1. Where duty has been paid under section 26(a) by an officer on a document the officer may apply to a Judge for an order for the recovery of the duty from the parties at whose request the document was drawn up.
2. Section 26(g) and (h) shall not apply where the document makes express provision for the payment of duty by a person other than the debtor or the transferee, as the case may be.
3. a deed witnessing the purchase of a portion of freehold land by a company, during the period from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2013, under the construction project of housing estates registered under section 161A(46) of the Income Tax Act for the construction of at least 5 residential units, shall be exempted from registration duty under this Act.
  1. has failed to comply with the conditions specified in section 161A(46) of this Act, he shall, by written notice sent by registered post, claim the registration duty, together with a penalty of 20 per cent of the amount of duty exempted.
  2. Where land planned to be used for the construction project of a housing estate registered under section 161A(46) of the Income Tax Act is not fully utilised, the Registrar- General shall claim the duty exempted in relation to that part of the unutilised land in the same manner together with a penalty equal to 20 per cent of the amount of duty exempted.
4. the duty leviable under this Act on any deed of transfer to an individual of 18 years of age or over witnessing the transfer of
  1. a portion of freehold bare land
  2. the right to construct a residential building on top of an existing building (droit de surélévation) on a freehold land together with his quote-part
  3. shall be reduced by the amount of the duty leviable or 50,000 rupees, whichever is the lesser.
  4. A transferee shall qualify for a reduction
    1. he acquires the portion of freehold bare land, or the right to construct a residential building on top of an existing building (droit de surélévation) together with his quote-part on a freehold land, for the sole purpose of constructing a residential building
    2. he undertakes to start the construction of the residential building within a period of one year, and to complete the construction within a period of 3 years, from the date of transfer
    3. he or his spouse has not already benefitted from any reduction
    4. he or his spouse is or was not the sole owner of any immovable property in or outside Mauritius
    5. where he or his spouse is or was the co-owner of any immovable property, the immovable property was acquired by inheritance and is, or was, not of an extent exceeding 422 square metres
    6. where he or his spouse is or was the co-owner of an immovable property, the immovable property is or was acquired before 9 November 2012 and is, or was, not of an extent exceeding 211 square metres
    7. the total income of the transferee and his spouse, in the income year in which the transfer is made, does not exceed, in the aggregate, 2 million rupees
    8. he is a citizen of Mauritius
    9. the transfer is not in respect of an immovable property, or any part thereof, acquired under the Investment Promotion (Real Estate Development Scheme) Regulations 2007
    10. the value of the freehold bare land or droit de surélévation on a freehold land together with his quote-part does not exceed one million rupees
5. A deed of transfer shall contain a declaration that the transferee qualifies for the reduction and shall be accompanied by a declaration of the transferee, in 2 originals, in a form approved by the Registrar-General and the Director-General.
  1. the full name and address of the transferee, his national identity card number and tax account number
6. any deed of transfer to an individual of 18 years of age or over witnessing transfer of
  1. a residential lot which is the subject of a duly registered and transcribed deed witnessing a “règlement de co-propriété”
  2. a portion of freehold land with a residential building thereon, shall be reduced by the amount of the duty leviable or 200,000 rupees, whichever is the lesser.
  3. conditions
    1. a residential lot which is the subject of a duly registered and transcribed deed witnessing a “règlement de co-propriété”
    2. a portion of freehold land with a residential building thereon
    3. he or his spouse has not already benefitted from any reduction
    4. he or his spouse is or was not the sole owner of any immovable property
    5. where he or his spouse is or was the co-owner of any immovable property, the immovable property was acquired by inheritance and is, or was, not of an extent exceeding 422 square metres
    6. where he or his spouse is or was the co-owner of an immovable property, the immovable property is or was acquired before 9 November 2012 and is, or was, not of an extent exceeding 211 square metres
    7. the total income of the transferee and his spouse, in the income year in which the transfer is made, does not exceed, in the aggregate, 2 million rupees
    8. he is a citizen of Mauritius
    9. the transfer is not in respect of an immovable property, or any part thereof, acquired under the Investment Promotion (Real Estate Development Scheme) Regulations 2007
    10. the value of the residential lot or the portion of freehold land with a residential building thereon does not exceed 4 million rupees.
s. 27 - CONTINUED
1. any deed of transfer registered on or before 31 December 2015, witnessing the transfer or vente en état future d’achèvement (VEFA) to an individual of 18 years of age or over, of a housing unit forming part of the construction project of housing estates registered under section 161A(46) of the Income Tax Ac
  1. be exempted from payment of registration duty
  2. No exemption shall be granted
    1. the value of the housing unit exceeds 2.5 million rupees
      1. from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012
    2. the value of the housing unit exceeds 4 million rupees
      1. from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2015
  3. qualify for the exemption
    1. the transfer is in relation to the construction project of at least 5 residential units
    2. he or his spouse has not already benefitted from any reduction
    3. he or his spouse is, or was, not the sole owner of any immovable property
    4. where he or his spouse is, or was, the co-owner of any immovable property, the immovable property was acquired by inheritance and is, or was, not of an extent exceeding 422 square meters
    5. where he or his spouse is or was the co-owner of an immovable property, the immovable property is or was acquired before 9 November 2012 and is, or was, not of an extent exceeding 211 square metres
    6. the total income of the transferee and his spouse, in the income year in which the transfer is made, does not exceed, in the aggregate, 2 million rupees
    7. he is a citizen of Mauritius
    8. the transfer is not in respect of an immovable property, or any part thereof, acquired under the Investment Promotion (Real Estate Development Scheme) Regulations 2007.
2. shall contain a declaration that the transferee qualifies for the reduction and shall be accompanied by a declaration of the transferee, in 2 originals, in a form approved by the Registrar-General and the Director-General.
  1. the full name and address of the transferee, his national identity card number and tax account number
  2. a statement
3. the Director-General shall, by written notice sent by registered post, require the transferee to pay, within the time specified in the notice, the amount of the reduction of the duty granted together with a penalty equal to 25 per cent of that amount.
  1. the declaration given by the transferee is incorrect, false or misleading in any material particular
  2. the total income of the transferee and his spouse, in the income year in which the transfer is made, exceeds, in the aggregate, 2 million rupees
4. Any person who knowingly makes a declaration which is incorrect, false or misleading in any material particular shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 50,000 rupees.
5. the Director-General shall apply the provisions of Part IX of the Value Added Tax Act to the amount claimed, with such modifications, adaptations and exceptions as may be necessary to bring them in conformity with this section.
s. 28 - Abatement or deferment of duty
1. No payment of duty shall be abated or deferred on the ground that the amount of duty payable is in dispute or any other ground.
s. 29 - Refund of duty
1. Where duty has been properly levied on a document in accordance with this Act, the duty shall not be refundable whatever may be the effect of any subsequent event on the transaction witnesssed by the document.
2. Where any amount has been paid in excess of the duty properly leviable
  1. application may be made to the Receiver for a refund
    1. s. 30 - Time limit for claims or refunds
      1. shall be receivable after the expiry of 5 years from the date on which the duty became leviable.
        duty not levied on a stipulation in the document under section 6;
        the balance of duty insufficiently levied
        any additional duty by reason of a false declaration of value
        refund of duty under section 29
s. 31 - Proof of change of ownership
1. The change of ownership or usufruct of immovable property shall be sufficiently proved for the purposes of this Act against the person from whom duty is claimed
  1. the appearance of his name on a list of rate-payers of a local authority as owner or usufructuary of the property
  2. payment by him of the rates on the property
  3. by a document witnessing a transaction made by him as owner or usufructuary of the property
2. Where the proportional duty provided in items 10 to 13 of paragraph I or in items 10 to 14 of paragraph J of Part I of the First Schedule has been levied on a transaction
  1. only fixed duty shall be leviable on any subsequent transfer deed drawn up in relation to that transaction.
s. 32 - Proof of lease or transfer of stock-in-trade
1. For the purposes of claiming duty on an unregistered lease, the lease of agricultural land, or of a building, shall be sufficiently proved by any document establishing the occupation or the payment by the lessee of any tax levied on a lessee.
2. For the purposes of recovering duty, the transfer of ownership of stock-in- trade or goodwill to a person shall be presumed from the transfer of the licence of the trader to that person.

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THE REGISTRATION DUTY ACT - COLLECTION OF DUTY

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