Section 28A: Land conversion rights

28A. Land conversion rights (1) Any person who is entitled to an exemption from land conversion tax under section 11, 14, or 29 (1) (c), (d) or (f) pursuant to expenditure incurred in the sugar reform, or in such other circumstances as may be prescribed shall— (a) where he has obtained written authority for land conversion under section 28 (1) and has not yet effected the conversion; or (b) where he has not yet sought authority under section 28 (1), have a right which shall be known as Land Conversion Right (LCR). (2) The Ministry or Mauritius Cane Industry Authority, as the case may be, shall quantify the LCR and keep respective LCR registers of LCR. (3) Any LCR may be transferred by the holder of the LCR to any other person upon approval by the Ministry or Mauritius Cane Industry Authority, as the case may be. (4) Any transfer carried out under subsection (3) shall be accompanied by a certificate from the Ministry or Mauritius Cane Industry Authority, as the case may be. (5) Any transfer of an LCR shall entail a reduction of the LCR available to him and the Ministry or Mauritius Cane Industry Authority, as the case may be, shall amend the LCR Register accordingly. [Issue 9] S49 – 32 (2) Revised Laws of Mauritius (6) A fee of 175,000 rupees per hectare of land to which the LCR relates shall be payable prior to the certificate being issued under subsection (4) by both the transferor and the transferee to the Registrar General. (7) The fixed fee specified in subsection (6) would, notwithstanding any other enactment, be in lieu of the land transfer tax and the registration duty. (8) Notwithstanding the Land (Duties and Taxes) Act, the fee shall not apply where the transfer is made to a company, societé or partnership or any other legal entity which is in the same group as the transferor. (9) The transferor shall, not later than 14 days from the date of transfer of an LCR, give written notification thereof and forward a copy of the document witnessing the transfer to the Ministry and Mauritius Cane Industry Authority. (10) Where a transferee under this section intends to use his LCR to put agricultural land to non-agricultural use, he shall make an application under section 28. (11) The LCR shall, for the purposes of the Land (Duties and Taxes) Act, be deemed to be registered as property. [S. 28A inserted by s. 15 of Act 34 of 2016 w.e.f. 1 January 2017.]