Tetragonal Mn₃Ga thin films were epitaxially grown with and without strain on Cr and Mo crystalline buffer layers, respectively, using rf-magnetron sputtering. Epilayers grown on Cr with a lattice mismatch of 4.16%, exhibit a high magnetization of 220 kAm⁻¹ and high perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. These characteristics are attributed to interfacial strain. Additionally, a soft ferromagnetic component is observed in these films but not in relaxed layers grown on Mo, where Δa/a is −0.1%. These latest films exhibit a low magnetization of 80 kAm⁻¹ and both perpendicular and in-plane magnetic anisotropies. We propose that high spin orbit coupling of Mo-5s¹4d⁵ orbitals from the buffer layer and strong hybridization with Mn³⁺-3d⁴ orbitals from the magnetic layer are at the origin of in-plane anisotropy at the interface, while Mn₃Ga magnetocrystalline anisotropy leads to perpendicular anisotropy on the rest of the film.