Keeping your bank accounts and investments when moving to Mauritius

Moving to Mauritius raises two banking questions: what happens to your accounts and investments in France, and what a Mauritian bank will ask for before opening an account. This guide sets out the official rules on both; it is not a substitute for advice from a tax adviser.

Do you need to move everything to Mauritius?

Not necessarily. Your country of residence, the location of your accounts and the markets you invest in can be different. Mauritius abolished exchange controls in 1994. That does not remove banking checks or the conditions attached to particular accounts and residence permits (Bank of Mauritius).

Keeping an account for expenses in your previous country and opening one in Mauritius for everyday spending may make sense. Your investment portfolio should be considered separately.

What should you ask your bank before moving?

Tell each institution about your change of residence and ask for written confirmation of the services it will continue to provide. For people leaving France, the French tax authority expressly instructs customers to inform their financial institution (French tax authority, banking products).

Points to clarify include:

• Accounts you can keep: current accounts, securities accounts, savings and any joint accounts.
• Permitted transactions: purchases of securities, contributions, withdrawals and access to particular products after you move.
• Day-to-day access: cards, international payments, online banking and authentication from abroad.
• Charges: account maintenance, custody, currency conversion and transfers.
• Records to update: address, supporting documents, tax residence and tax identification number where required.

Continuing to bank with an institution and remaining eligible for a particular product are separate questions.

Can you keep every French investment product?

No. According to the French tax authority, a person whose tax residence is outside France cannot hold the Livret de développement durable et solidaire (LDDS), the Livret Jeune or the LEP, while other banking products remain open to non-residents (French tax authority, banking products). A ministerial answer takes a different view on the LDDS, as explained below.

Product	After leaving France	Source
Assurance vie (life insurance)	Gains on withdrawals bear a withholding deducted by the insurer	BOFiP
PEA	Not closed automatically, unless you move to a non-cooperative jurisdiction	BOFiP
Livret A	No French tax residence condition	Service-public.fr
PEL	No residence condition to open one; ask the bank to confirm whether yours can be kept	Service-public.fr
LEP	The bank must close it	Service-public.fr
Livret Jeune	Requires habitual residence in France; otherwise the bank closes it	Service-public.fr
LDDS	Official sources disagree	French tax authority, National Assembly

These are the French rules. In Mauritius, income and gains from these investments fall under the foreign-income rules, and the tax treaty allocates taxing rights between the two countries.

Assurance vie

When the policyholder’s tax residence is outside France and the insurer is established in France, the gains on a partial or full withdrawal are subject to a compulsory flat-rate withholding, deducted by the insurer and final for French income tax. French social levies do not apply (French tax authority, withdrawals by non-residents).

The rate turns on when the premiums were paid. For premiums paid on or after 27 September 2017, the BOFiP sets 12.8% whatever the age of the policy. Where the policy is at least eight years old, the policyholder can file a claim to have all or part of the gains taxed at 7.5%: the share depends on a €150,000 threshold of premiums paid and not yet repaid, counted across all their policies with insurers established in France (BOFiP, life insurance of non-residents). For premiums paid before 27 September 2017, the rate is 7.5%, as the policies concerned are all more than eight years old (French tax authority, life insurance and the PEA).

The French tax authority’s page on non-resident withdrawals simply states 12.8% below eight years and 7.5% beyond: ask your insurer, which deducts the withholding, to confirm the rate it will apply before you withdraw.

The rate rises to 75% for a person resident or established in a non-cooperative jurisdiction (French tax authority, withdrawals by non-residents). The French tax authority adds that a tax treaty may reduce the withholding: ask a tax adviser how the France–Mauritius treaty applies to your policy.

The PEA

Moving your tax residence out of France no longer closes the plan automatically, unless the move is to a non-cooperative jurisdiction. The plan’s other rules still apply: a partial withdrawal after five years does not close it, while a withdrawal before five years does, save for the listed exceptions (BOFiP, the PEA after a move abroad).

For a non-resident holder, the net gain on a withdrawal or on closing the plan, even within five years, falls outside French income tax and social levies. Dividends received in the plan bear no French withholding tax, except those from unlisted French companies. If you become resident in France again, the usual rules apply when the plan is closed. Ask your bank whether you can keep paying into the plan (BOFiP, PEA held by non-residents).

Savings accounts and the PEL

Anyone can hold a Livret A, whatever their age, nationality or tax residence (Service-public.fr, Livret A). A LEP is different: you must be French tax-resident to open and keep one, and the bank has to close it once that condition is no longer met (Service-public.fr, LEP).

For an LDDS you already hold, the French tax authority says it can no longer be held once your tax residence moves outside France, whereas a 2016 ministerial answer says transferring your tax residence abroad does not close it, except to a non-cooperative jurisdiction: ask your bank to confirm in writing whether it will keep it open (Ministerial answer 53958).

A PEL can be opened with no condition of residence or nationality (Service-public.fr, PEL). For a plan opened before you leave, ask your bank to confirm the terms for keeping it.

Interest on current and savings accounts paid to a non-resident carries no French social levies. Nor is French tax withheld on it, unless it is paid in a non-cooperative jurisdiction (French tax authority, investment income; French Tax Code, article 125 A).

Securities and Exit Tax

If you hold securities or a shareholding, check before you leave whether French Exit Tax applies. For unrealised gains, it can apply if you were tax-resident in France for at least six of the ten years before leaving and the securities held, directly or indirectly, by your tax household are worth more than €800,000 in total or represent at least 50% of a company’s profits. It reaches these gains even without a sale. Deferred gains and earn-out payments still due to you follow other conditions, set out in our guide to tax residency. Form 2074-ETD is filed the year after departure with the income tax return. For a move to Mauritius, payment is deferred automatically; follow-up returns are then due, either every year or only when certain events occur, depending on the type of gain (French tax authority, Exit Tax; French tax authority, form 2074-ETD notice).

These rules concern a departure from France. Accounts in Switzerland, Belgium or elsewhere require a separate check of local rules and your institution’s terms.

What does a Mauritian bank ask for to open an account?

Mauritian banks follow the Bank of Mauritius guideline on anti-money laundering. For an individual, the bank collects and verifies full legal name, date and place of birth, nationality, and current permanent address (Bank of Mauritius, guideline).

Expect to provide:

• Identity: an original official document with a recent photograph, namely a national identity card, a valid passport or a valid driving licence.
• Address: a utility bill, a bank or credit card statement, or a bank reference letter, dated within the last three months.
• Profile: occupation, employer where applicable, income, how you expect to use the account (amounts, number, type and frequency of transactions) and the products you want.
• Source of funds: depending on risk, the bank may ask for the source of your wealth and where funds come from and go to, with evidence.

If you apply from abroad, the guideline provides for a copy of your identity document certified as true by a lawyer, accountant or other professional the bank accepts, together with an original or certified utility bill or bank statement at your address. If you open the account in person without being resident in Mauritius, the guideline also provides for your identity and address to be checked with a bank in your home country or country of residence.

At account opening, the bank must obtain and validate a tax-residence self-certification under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). Without it, the account cannot be opened or activated (MRA, CRS self-certification).

The guideline sets a minimum: each bank may, depending on its assessment of risk, ask for more. For the opening deposit, timing, available currencies and charges, including international transfers, ask the chosen bank for its terms in writing.

Keep the statements, sale records and income records that show the origin and nature of the money you transfer. They answer the bank’s questions and help establish how the funds are taxed.

What should you set aside for local expenses?

Prepare a budget for your expenses in Mauritius, separate from your long-term investments: housing, day-to-day spending, healthcare and regular commitments. Compare the currencies of your income with those of your expenses. The amount to keep available depends on these needs, not on a standard percentage of your wealth.

Some permits also require specific transfers or investments. Address these separately from your portfolio arrangements. Check the chosen permit’s conditions in the Economic Development Board guidelines, rather than assuming you must move all your investments.

Does an overseas account change the tax position?

Taxation depends on your tax residence, on the type and source of the income, and on whether it is received in Mauritius or used there in your interest or on your behalf. The source country may also retain taxing rights (MRA, foreign income).

Reporting obligations can apply even when your accounts remain in Europe. Financial institutions also collect tax-residence information for automatic exchanges of financial account information (MRA, CRS).

Our guide to foreign income in Mauritius explains the distinction. Establishing your tax residence comes before reaching conclusions about the income involved.

Where does Necker Finance fit in?

Banking arrangements and portfolio management are connected but distinct. Accounts are held in your name with custodian banks. The mandate then defines Necker Finance’s role: managing the portfolio or advising on your investment decisions.

We review your accounts, your investments and your liquidity needs with you, and check in particular whether we can work with your current bank. A portfolio transfer is not always necessary.

Explore our mandates or talk to an adviser about how to organise your investments in Mauritius.