Services · Company formation

Company registration in Mauritius

Updated 5 October 2026

Mauritius is an international financial centre in the Indian Ocean with a network of tax treaties. We choose the company type, obtain the licence and open the account.

Mauritius is an Indian Ocean island state and a financial centre through which investors work with Africa and Asia. International business companies are formed under the Companies Act 2001 and licensed and supervised by the Financial Services Commission under the Financial Services Act 2007. Below: which companies foreigners open, the taxes they pay, what the Commission requires and what registration costs.

Which company to open in Mauritius

• Global Business Company. A Mauritian resident company conducting business outside Mauritius under a Financial Services Commission licence. It benefits from Mauritius' tax treaties but must be managed from the island: among other things, the Commission considers whether it has at least two Mauritius-resident directors of sufficient calibre and its principal bank account in Mauritius.
• Authorised Company. Incorporated in Mauritius with an authorisation from the Commission, but its place of effective management must be outside Mauritius. A simpler form for a holding or trading company that does not need Mauritian tax treaties.

The choice depends on where management will sit, whether tax treaties are needed and how much presence on the island you can provide.

Taxes

• Corporate income tax is 15%, or 3% for companies exporting goods.
• Partial exemption. Certain types of income are 80% exempt, some 95%, if the company meets the substance conditions in Mauritius' tax regulations. With the 80% exemption the effective rate is 3%.
• The former 80% deemed foreign tax credit for global business companies was abolished from 1 January 2019, so a low rate now requires real activity on the island.

An Authorised Company pays tax in its country of management under that country's rules, so we review its taxes together with the owners' taxes.

How registration works

1. Reviewing the business. We choose the company type, activities, countries of operation and the owners' taxes.
2. Owner checks. We prepare documents on the owners, source of funds and a business plan for the Financial Services Commission.
3. Registration and licence. We incorporate the company and apply for a Global Business Licence or an Authorised Company authorisation.
4. Presence. For a Global Business Company we appoint resident directors and open the principal account in Mauritius.
5. Reporting. We handle bookkeeping, reporting and licence renewal.

Why Mauritian companies run into refusals

• No real presence. A Global Business Company without management on the island risks losing tax benefits and treaty access.
• A weak business plan. The Commission reviews the activity and source of funds, and a vague application delays the licence.
• The bank will not open an account because of an opaque ownership structure or links to sanctioned countries.

Global business company reporting

A global business company keeps records at its registered office in Mauritius and every year files audited financial statements with the Financial Services Commission within 6 months of financial year end. A company managed outside Mauritius and operating only abroad can be registered as an authorised company: it is not a Mauritius tax resident but still files a tax return.

What we do

We choose the company type, prepare the documents and business plan, obtain the Financial Services Commission licence or authorisation, appoint resident directors, open the account and handle reporting. Registration of an Authorised Company with a bank account costs $9,910 and of a Global Business Company $24,110. Itemised prices are in the table below.

Fees

See also

Business account · Personal account · Investment property · Country taxes · All country programs

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