Many buyers ask themselves the question too late: should one buy in one’s own name or through a company? In Monaco, this choice determines what you will pay at entry, how you will manage the property, and what will remain to be transmitted to your heirs. According to IMSEE, more than one sale out of two exceeds 20 million euros in the Principality. At these amounts, choosing the wrong structure can cost several hundred thousand euros. Monegasque SCI, French SCI, holding: this guide gives you the keys to choose the one that corresponds to you.
In Monaco, the majority of acquisitions are made in personal name. If you settle in the Principality, you buy to live there and your heirs are your children or your spouse, direct ownership is simple and fiscally advantageous. Monaco applies no inheritance rights in direct line. This represents an important saving compared to other European countries.
Several profiles of buyers have an objective interest in using a company.
1- You buy together. Without SCI, you are in joint ownership. Each co-owner can block a decision, refuse a sale, complicate rental management. The SCI allows you to define the rules in the statutes, and to avoid these blocking situations which can become conflicts.
2- You are an entrepreneur exposed to professional risks. By holding your property through an SCI, you create a clear separation between your personal wealth and your real estate assets.
3- You have an international family. Parents in Monaco, children residing in France, Italy, Switzerland. Without an adapted structure, succession rules of several countries may overlap and generate double taxation.
4- You value confidentiality. In Monaco, information on SCI partners is not publicly accessible, unlike France where it appears in open registries.
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The Monegasque Civil Real Estate Company is governed by articles 1670 to 1711 of the Monegasque Civil Code. Its purpose is exclusively the holding and management of real estate assets; it cannot carry out commercial activity. An SCI whose activity is reclassified as commercial loses its legal and fiscal advantages. Law No. 1.573 of 8 April 2025 modernized several of its rules regarding governance and creation procedure.
To create it, at least two partners are required (natural or legal persons, residents or not, with no nationality condition) and no minimum capital is imposed by law. The lifetime can reach 99 years. The statutes are freely drafted, then registered with the RCI (Register of Commerce and Industry of Monaco). Accounting obligations are lightened. A simple statement of income and expenses is sufficient, without certified annual balance sheet.
The Monegasque SCI has three advantages that the French SCI cannot reproduce.
The first is confidentiality. The names of partners are not published in Monegasque public registers, except upon official request from competent authorities.
The second is its patrimonial versatility. Unlike a French SCI limited to real estate assets only, the Monegasque SCI can hold movable assets: financial portfolios, shares in other companies, cash. This characteristic opens a very interesting window of succession planning. If more than 50% of SCI assets are movable, shares may be transmitted under Monegasque law where direct inheritance rights are zero instead of French rules.
The third is management flexibility. The statutes can be tailor-made: who decides what, under which conditions shares can be transferred, how the manager’s powers are framed. This avoids situations where a partner can block a sale or major management decision overnight.Wealth transmission with the Monegasque SCI
Monaco is one of the rare territories in the world where inheritance rights in direct line are zero: between parents and children, between grandparents and grandchildren, and between spouses. This rule is set by the Monegasque Civil Code (articles 602 to 760) and applies to assets located in the Principality, regardless of domicile, residence or nationality of the deceased. For transfers between unrelated third parties, the applicable rate is 16%. This is one of the strongest patrimonial attractions of Monaco for international families.
However, a warning is necessary. These advantages apply to assets located in Monaco. For assets located in France, French tax rules continue to apply, independently of the chosen structure. The distribution of taxing rights between the two countries is governed by the Franco-Monegasque Convention of 1 April 1950, which refers to geographical location of assets.
By placing your property in an SCI, you can transfer your wealth without ever moving the property itself. You give shares to your children during your lifetime while retaining management, while continuing to manage the property as before. This approach allows anticipating succession without losing control and integrating heirs into the structure at your own pace with freely defined statutory conditions.
It also avoids one of the most frequent problems in real estate inheritance: post-succession joint ownership. When several heirs become co-owners of the same property without legal framework, disagreements over sale or management can paralyze family life for years. The SCI solves this problem upstream in the statutes.
A fundamental principle of international tax law applies: it is the location of the property that determines applicable tax law, not that of the owning company. A property located in France is taxable in France, whether its owner is a Monegasque, Luxembourg or Cayman company.
Concretely, if your Monegasque SCI holds a property in France, all French taxes remain due: property tax, taxation of rental income, IFI (real estate wealth tax) for French tax resident partners. The structure changes nothing to these obligations.
Another vigilance point: any foreign legal entity holding property in France is in principle subject to the 3% annual tax on its market value. To be exempt, the Monegasque SCI must file each year before 15 May a specific declaration (form n° 2746-SD) stating identity of partners and property value. This obligation, framed by articles 990 D to 990 G of the French Tax Code, generates recurring management costs in addition to legal domiciliation in Monaco. These are real costs to include in your budget from the start.
The French SCI is simple to set up, costing less than 1000 euros, and its rules are well known by most French lawyers and notaries. It can theoretically hold property in Monaco, and some buyers prefer it for its administrative simplicity or because it facilitates mortgage credit access from French banks.
But its fiscal limits are real when associated with a Monegasque asset. If the SCI is subject to income tax, partners declare their income share in their French tax return. This reduces the benefit of residence in Monaco. If it opts for corporate tax, profits are taxed at company level, then again upon dividend distribution. This double taxation reduces overall investment profitability.
The difference between Monegasque SCI and French SCI lies in succession treatment. Shares of a Monegasque SCI are considered movable assets according to French Supreme Court case law (decision of 2 October 2015, n° 14-14.256). If the partner has not been French tax resident for more than five years, transmission follows the law of their country of residence. This is the real advantage of Monegasque SCI for international families.
Take the example of an Italian national resident in Switzerland, partner in a Monegasque SCI owning a villa in France. At death, succession of shares follows Italian law or chosen law, not French civil law. The French SCI, however, remains subject without exception to French inheritance law, including forced heirship.
The Société Civile Particulière (SCP) is often confused with SCI, but it goes further. Its asset scope is much broader. It can simultaneously hold real estate and movable assets, such as offices or professional premises in the Principality. It is a wealth planning tool designed for families whose assets exceed several tens of millions of euros and whose members reside in multiple countries.
The SCP is more expensive, more formal and more demanding to manage than SCI. It is not suitable for isolated real estate acquisition. However, for an international family seeking to consolidate all assets under a single structure and organize multi-generational transmission, it may be the most powerful tool available in Monaco.
Some investors consider acquiring through a foreign holding, Luxembourg, British or other jurisdiction. This approach was popular in the past for discretion. It remains possible in Monaco but the Monegasque tax framework has made it less attractive.
Law No. 1.381 of 29 June 2011, amended by Law No. 1.548, sets a simple rule: the more transparent your structure, the less you pay at entry. A transparent Monegasque SCI with clearly identified partners benefits from a 4.75% registration duty rate. A holding with opaque beneficial owners is taxed at 10%. On a 20 million euro property, the difference exceeds one million euros at acquisition. Opaque structures have a price.
The SOPARFI (Société de Participations Financières) is a commercial holding benefiting from tax exemptions on dividends from subsidiaries held at least 25%. It can hold real estate worldwide, including in Monaco. But for an isolated Monegasque acquisition, it is classified as non-transparent and subject to the 10% increased rate.
Its interest is justified for a family group with assets in several countries seeking consolidation under a holding logic. For a Monaco acquisition outside this framework, the Monegasque SCI remains more suitable.
Here are entry costs depending on acquisition structure, as resulting from Law No. 1.548 of 6 July 2023 applicable since 1 October 2023.
Beyond registration duties, several items must be added to your acquisition budget. Agency fees are freely set by Monegasque agencies and subject to VAT. A deposit is paid upon preliminary contract signature. If you withdraw after price acceptance, this deposit is lost.
If you finance through mortgage credit, a mortgage registration duty is added. Its amount is fixed by Monegasque law and varies according to loan amount.
For the SCI itself, anticipate recurring annual costs: legal domiciliation, accounting and general meeting. These amounts vary depending on service providers and must be included from the start.
This is the most frequent mistake. Many French buyers believe that by moving to Monaco they automatically escape all French tax obligations. This is incorrect. Under the Franco-Monegasque tax convention of 1963, French nationals established in Monaco after 13 October 1962 remain taxable in France on worldwide income, exactly as if they lived there. This rule also applies to income generated by a Monegasque SCI of which they are partners.
If you are French, the legal structure chosen in Monaco will not change your fiscal situation in France. Before creating anything, consult a Franco-Monegasque tax lawyer. Nationals of other countries are treated differently, but must also check applicable tax treaties.
A Monegasque SCI holding a property in France remains subject to all French tax obligations linked to that property. It is the principle of location that applies: the country where the property is located determines applicable tax law, not where the company is registered. This means property tax, rental income and possible IFI follow French rules independently of structure.
Upon resale, transfer of shares of a real estate-heavy SCI generates capital gains taxable in France. The global rate is 36.2% for French tax residents: 19% income tax and 17.2% social contributions. For non-French residents affiliated with a social security system in the EEA or Switzerland, social contributions are reduced to a 7.5% solidarity levy, bringing the total rate to 26.5%.
Reductions apply after five years of holding. Full income tax exemption is reached after 22 years, and social contributions after 30 years.
Here are three typical profiles illustrating practical choice.
You are a non-French Monegasque resident, buying to live there and wishing to transmit to your children. The Monegasque SCI is the most suitable tool. It offers confidentiality, succession flexibility, and the most favorable registration duty rate.
You are a French resident moving to Monaco and buying your primary residence. In most cases, purchase in personal name is simpler and equally effective. Monaco applies no inheritance tax in direct line.
You belong to a multi-resident international family, with members in several countries and a desire to organize transmission outside French forced heirship rules. The Monegasque SCI with movable assets is the most robust solution, provided it is structured with a specialized lawyer.
Can one buy property in Monaco in personal name or is a company mandatory?
Both are possible. Monaco imposes no restriction on acquisition form and makes no distinction between residents and non-residents. Purchase in personal name is perfectly valid. Use of a company responds to patrimonial, succession or management objectives, not legal obligation.
The difference is mainly fiscal. A transparent Monegasque SCI is subject to 4.75% registration duty at acquisition. A foreign holding or opaque structure bears a 10% rate. On a 10 million euro property, the difference exceeds 500,000 euros at entry. The Monegasque SCI requires full transparency of partner identity with the Tax Department in return.
For assets located in Monaco, yes, in direct line. Monaco applies no inheritance rights between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, or spouses, according to the Monegasque Civil Code. This applies to assets located in the Principality, regardless of nationality or residence. For assets in France, French tax rules still apply independently of structure.
Yes. The Principality does not require residency to create an SCI. However, the company must be registered in Monaco, and its partners, exclusively natural persons, must be known by the Tax Department to benefit from the transparent regime. Assistance from a Monegasque notary or lawyer is essential.
Three actors. 1- The Monegasque notary is the public officer who secures the transaction and calculates duties. 2- The tax lawyer, ideally Franco-Monegasque, analyzes implications in each jurisdiction. 3- The accountant handles recurring obligations of the company once created. These three roles are distinct and complementary.
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