Buying Property in Monaco as an Investor: Costs, Structures and Financing
The investor's purchase playbook: the compromis and 10% deposit, the full cost of each scenario (6.25% resale, 2.5% new build, 11.5% via an offshore company), holding directly versus through a Monaco SCI or a foreign company under loi n° 1.381, bank financing, letting in the secteur libre, and what the exit costs.
Key facts
- Statutory costs, individual buying a resale
- 4.75% registration duty + ~1.5% notary ≈ 6.25% of the price
- Statutory costs, new build (VEFA)
- About 2.5% — reduced registration duty on VAT-bearing sales
- Statutory costs, opaque company
- 10% registration duty + ~1.5% notary ≈ 11.5%
- Agency commission (CIM scale)
- Buyer 3% + VAT, seller 5% + VAT
- Deposit at the compromis
- 10% of the price, held by the notary
- Opaque owners' annual filing
- Beneficial-owner declaration via a mandataire agréé, 1 July – 30 September each year
What this page covers
The investment case — prices, yields, zero holding taxes — is on the companion page. This one is the mechanics: how a Monaco purchase actually runs, what each scenario costs to the euro, how to hold the asset without walking into loi n° 1.381's 10% rate, how the banks finance it, and what letting and selling involve afterwards.
The purchase, step by step
- Offer through an agent. Almost all stock is sold through the members of the Chambre Immobilière Monégasque (CIM), whose fee scale is binding on them. Off-market deals exist at the top of the market; the process is the same.
- Compromis de vente. A binding preliminary contract drawn up by the notary (Monaco has three notarial offices, appointed by sovereign ordinance). The buyer pays a deposit of 10% of the price into the notary's account. Conditions precedent — financing, in particular — must be written in here; a buyer who withdraws without one forfeits the deposit.
- Verifications. Title, mortgages and easements, the copropriété's accounts and minutes, the building's completion date (which decides the letting regime — see below), and where relevant the State's pre-emption right on certain buildings.
- Acte de vente. Signed before the notary two to three months later. The balance, the registration duty and the notary's fees are paid at signature; the notary registers the deed and handles land publicity.
- Handover. Keys, meter transfers with SMEG and SMEaux, notification to the syndic.
There is no government authorisation to obtain, no residency condition and no nationality filter at any point in this chain.
What it costs, scenario by scenario
| Scenario | Registration duty | Notary | Statutory total | Agency (buyer) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual, or Monaco SCI with natural-person partners, buying a resale | 4.75% | ~1.5% | ≈ 6.25% | 3% + VAT = 3.6% |
| New build / VEFA (price carries 20% VAT) | reduced, about 1% | ~1.5% | ≈ 2.5% | often included by the developer |
| Opaque structure (foreign company, trust, company with corporate partners) | 10% | ~1.5% | ≈ 11.5% | 3% + VAT |
| Shares of a Monaco SCI holding the property | 4.75% on the property's value | fees on the share deal | ≈ 4.75% + costs | 3% + VAT |
Rates are those of loi n° 1.548 of 6 July 2023, in force since 1 October 2023 (previously 4.5% and 7.5%). Notary fees are a regulated percentage plus VAT on the honoraires and a few hundred euros of file costs. Mortgage deeds carry their own registration and land-publicity duties, quoted by the notary with the loan.
Worked example, €5,000,000 resale bought by an individual: €237,500 duty, about €75,000 notary, €180,000 agency commission — ≈ €492,500, or 9.85% on top of the price.
Holding structures: what loi n° 1.381 does
Since 2011 Monaco has taxed property transfers according to who can be seen behind the buyer. Loi n° 1.381 draws the line between:
- Transparent persons — natural persons, and Monegasque civil companies (SCI) other than SAM/SCA forms whose partners are exclusively natural persons acting for their own account and known to the Direction des Services Fiscaux. They pay the standard 4.75% rate and have no filing obligation.
- Everyone else — foreign companies, trusts, foundations, companies with corporate shareholders, or a Monaco SCI whose partners include a company. They pay 10% on purchase and are subject to three continuing obligations: appoint a mandataire agréé in Monaco (a notary, lawyer, accountant or approved professional), file a declaration of beneficial owners every year between 1 July and 30 September, and pay 4.75% duty on the full market value of the property each time a beneficial owner changes (art. 13). Failing to appoint a representative costs 1.5% of the value; undervaluation or a false declaration, 10%.
In practice this means:
- Buy personally if you simply want the asset. It is the cheapest route and the only paperwork afterwards is the copropriété's.
- A Monaco SCI suits families who want several members on the title, a clean succession (shares rather than a building pass to heirs — Monaco's inheritance duty is 0% in the direct line and between spouses) and easy transfer of fractions. Keep every partner a natural person or you lose transparency.
- A foreign company is the expensive route: 10% in, an annual filing, and duty again whenever the shareholding moves. It is chosen for reasons of home-country tax or confidentiality that have nothing to do with Monaco, and those reasons should be tested by a lawyer before signing.
The three notarial offices and the Monaco law firms handling this are listed in the notaries and property guide.
Financing
Monaco's banks — the roster is on the AMAF site and in the bank account guide — lend on Monaco property to residents and non-residents alike. Their model is private banking rather than retail: the loan comes with an account, assets deposited with the bank and a relationship manager. Typical terms in 2026:
- loan-to-value commonly in the region of 50–70%, occasionally higher for existing clients or with additional collateral (each bank sets its own bar — there is no regulatory ceiling);
- interest-only or amortising, in euros or another major currency, often with a Lombard component secured on a portfolio;
- a notarised mortgage (hypothèque) registered at the Direction des Services Fiscaux, with the duties quoted by the notary.
Write the financing condition into the compromis: without it, a refusal from the bank costs you the 10% deposit.
Letting the property
Whether you can let freely depends on the building's completion date, not on the lease you write:
- Buildings completed after 1 September 1947 — secteur libre. Any tenant, any rent, term and conditions as agreed. Deposit capped at three months' rent, returned within two months of handover; contradictory état des lieux at entry and exit; the tenant pays the agency (10% of the first year's rent + VAT under the CIM scale) and the 1% droit de bail, registered with the Direction des Services Fiscaux' duty division within three months of signature.
- Pre-1947 buildings — loi n° 1.235 (protected) or loi n° 887 (liberalised). Tenants limited to protected categories or long-standing residents, six-year leases, rents indexed and benchmarked by ministerial decree, offers published in the Journal de Monaco. Not an investor's regime.
Management companies charge 8% + VAT of rents collected under the CIM scale. Short-term letting has no day cap or registration in Monaco, but the copropriété's règlement may forbid it — check before pricing in Grand Prix weeks. Details in the rental market guide and furnished rentals.
Ongoing obligations while you hold
For an individual: none towards the tax authorities. No property tax, no wealth tax, no declaration of rents. Your obligations are the copropriété's charges and assemblies, building insurance, and — if you let — the lease registration above. Opaque owners add the annual beneficial-owner declaration.
French nationals declare Monaco rents and gains in France under the 1963 convention; other nationals should check their home country's rules on foreign property (many tax worldwide rental income or require a disclosure).
Selling
- No capital gains tax for individuals, whatever the holding period.
- The seller pays 5% + VAT to the agency under the official scale; the buyer pays the duty and notary.
- A sale by an opaque structure, or a change in its beneficial owners without a sale, triggers duty on the full value — the reason such structures are unwound before a sale rather than sold with the property inside.
- Allow time. IMSEE counts a few hundred resales a year; correctly priced apartments still take months.
Related
- Real estate investment in Monaco: prices, yields and what you buy
- Buying property guide — the plain-language walkthrough for a home
- Property law in Monaco — copropriété, notaries, the housing sectors
- Selling property in Monaco
Frequently asked questions
The information provided is for general guidance only. For official procedures, always consult the official sources.
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