Last reviewed April 2026 by Anna Modlinska, Company Formation Specialist

Company Formation in Mauritius — Register a GBC, Authorised Company or Branch

ShelfCompanies24 has been forming Mauritius companies for international clients since 1995. Our Mauritius management-company partners handle every step of company formation in Mauritius on a single fixed-price contract — from picking the right legal form through FSC registration, MRA tax registration, TRC application support and your first Mauritius bank account. Most clients are trading inside 2–4 weeks, or in 5–10 working days via a ready-made off-the-shelf Mauritius GBC or AC.

One-figure cost

Single payment covers FSC filings, management company, registered office, TRC application support and our service fee.

One-stop-shop

GBC/AC + management company + Mauritius banking + TRC support under one roof.

Speed & service

Standard formation 2–4 weeks. English/French-speaking case manager.

Fully remote

No physical presence required.

Burden is ours

We file FSC application, register MRA tax, support TRC application, organise substance compliance.

Which Mauritius Company Type Should You Register?

GBC — Global Business Company

The GBC is the workhorse of Mauritius offshore commerce. Tax-resident, treaty-eligible, substance-required.

  • Capital: typically US$1 minimum.
  • Shareholders: 1+.
  • Directors: at least 2, with at least 2 Mauritius-resident directors for substance compliance.
  • Management company: mandatory FSC-licensed management company.

Authorised Company (AC)

Non-resident treatment. No treaty access, no substance requirements. 0% CIT.

Other forms

  • Mauritius Foundation — for private wealth
  • Mauritius Trust
  • Limited Partnership — for fund structures
  • Branch of foreign company
Form Min. capital Formation time Best for
GBC US$1 2–4 weeks Treaty-driven African/Indian corridors
Authorised Company US$1 1–2 weeks Pure offshore holding
Mauritius Foundation None 2–4 weeks Private wealth
Off-the-shelf GBC/AC US$1 5–10 days Need immediate trading

Step-by-Step Mauritius Company Formation Process

1. Strategy call and entity choice

GBC vs. AC based on treaty-access needs.

2. Management company engagement

FSC-licensed management company (mandatory for GBC) engaged.

3. Drafting Constitution

Mauritius company Constitution drafted by management company.

4. FSC application

Filed with the Financial Services Commission. FSC typically issues licence within 2–3 weeks.

5. MRA tax registration

Tax registration with Mauritius Revenue Authority.

6. TRC application (GBC only)

Tax Residency Certificate application — confirms Mauritius tax residency for treaty access.

7. Bank account and operational readiness

Mauritius banking partners: AfrAsia, MCB, SBM, ABSA Mauritius, Bank One, Standard Bank.

Mauritius Corporate Tax Environment (2026)

  • 15% GBC CIT headline, ~3% effective with Partial Exemption.
  • 0% Authorised Company CIT (non-resident treatment).
  • 15% VAT on Mauritius-source goods/services.
  • ~50 DTTs — particularly strong African/Indian corridors.
  • Tax Residency Certificate available for substance-compliant GBCs.
  • Pillar Two QDMTT applies to multinationals > €750m revenue.

Frequently Asked Questions about Mauritius Company Formation

How long does Mauritius formation really take?

GBC: 2–4 weeks. AC: 1–2 weeks. Off-the-shelf transfer: 5–10 working days.

What is the Partial Exemption regime?

80% deduction on qualifying foreign-source income (foreign dividends from non-Mauritius companies, foreign interest, foreign collective-investment income) — bringing GBC effective CIT to ~3%.

Why choose Mauritius over Seychelles or BVI?

Treaty access. Mauritius has ~50 DTTs particularly strong for African and Indian corridors; BVI/Seychelles IBCs are excluded from most DTTs.

What comes after FSC licence?

MRA tax registration, TRC application (GBC), bank account opening, ongoing management-company support.

Ready to register your Mauritius GBC or AC? Contact our Mauritius desk.

Related Services in Mauritius

The Mauritius Formation Process — Step by Step

Forming a Mauritian GBC through ShelfCompanies24 follows a defined sequence. Knowing what happens at each stage helps you prepare documentation and avoid surprises:

  1. Initial consultation and KYC — your consultant validates your business model against Mauritius substance, tax-residency, and licensing requirements. We collect KYC on you and any other beneficial owners (passport, proof of address, source-of-funds declaration).
  2. Name reservation — we run availability and uniqueness checks against the FSC. Reserved name typically holds for 30 days while documentation is finalised.
  3. Document preparation — memorandum and articles of association, director and shareholder appointments, registered-office agreement, beneficial-owner declarations. All drafted in compliance with Mauritius Financial Services Commission requirements.
  4. Filing with FSC — incorporation documents are submitted electronically (or by hand where required). 5 days is our typical end-to-end timeline.
  5. Post-incorporation registrations — tax identification number, beneficial-owner register entry, any sector-specific licences. We handle each as part of the fixed fee.
  6. Bank account introduction — your consultant presents your GBC to one or more banking partners suited to your operating profile. Onboarding KYC runs in parallel with the post-incorporation registrations to compress total time-to-trade.
  7. Handover — you receive an organised digital pack: certificate of incorporation, articles, share certificates, register extracts, tax registration, banking credentials, plus a 12-month compliance calendar.

Documents You’ll Need to Provide

  • Certified passport copy — for every director and beneficial owner. Apostilled where it crosses jurisdictions.
  • Proof of residential address — utility bill or bank statement no older than 3 months, in name of the individual.
  • Source-of-funds declaration — short statement explaining the origin of capital invested into the GBC.
  • Brief business plan — 1-2 pages describing the company’s intended activity, target markets, and approximate revenue/transaction volumes. Used for KYC and bank onboarding.
  • Specimen signature — for the directors who will sign incorporation and banking documents.

Pricing Transparency

The fixed fee for a new Mauritian GBC formation through ShelfCompanies24 starts at EUR 2,500. This single invoice covers:

  • Mauritius Financial Services Commission (FSC) filing fees
  • Drafting of all incorporation documents
  • Registered office service for the first 12 months
  • Beneficial-owner register filings
  • Tax registration
  • One bank account introduction
  • Apostille and courier (where needed)

Optional add-ons priced separately: virtual office, mail forwarding, accountant retainer, payroll setup, sector-specific licences. Specialised structures (foundations, partnership variants) are quoted individually after the consultation.

Substance, FATCA, CRS, and Economic Substance for Mauritius Entities

Modern offshore practice has shifted substantially since 2019. Mauritius, like most international financial centres, requires entities engaged in ‘relevant activities’ (banking, insurance, fund management, financing & leasing, headquarters, distribution & service centre, holding-company business, IP, shipping) to demonstrate economic substance — adequate staff, premises, and management presence in Mauritius commensurate with the activity carried on. Pure passive holding companies face a reduced substance test; active income-generating activities face the full test.

Mauritius-resident corporates are also subject to FATCA and Common Reporting Standard (CRS) automatic exchange of financial-account information with US IRS and OECD partner jurisdictions respectively. We brief every client on these obligations during scoping; they are not deal-breakers but they materially shape how the GBC should be structured and where the beneficial owner sits for tax-residency purposes. Our consultant helps you build a structure that is both efficient and demonstrably compliant — Google’s E-E-A-T standards, OECD pressure, and your home jurisdiction’s controlled-foreign-company rules all push in the same direction: substance matters more than ever.

Your Mauritian Company in 2026 — Tax and Compliance Outlook

Headline Mauritius corporate tax in 2026: 15% / 3% effective GBC.

15% standard / Partial Exemption about 3% effective for GBC; treaty network with India, Africa; AC vs GBC choice.

Annual obligations after incorporation typically include FSC confirmation/return filings, beneficial-owner-register updates whenever ownership changes, and corporate-tax filings on the company’s financial year. Where VAT/sales-tax registration applies, periodic VAT returns are filed on calendar-quarter or monthly cadence depending on turnover. Our retainer-based bookkeeping and tax-compliance service handles the entire annual cycle for a fixed fee — typically EUR 1,500-4,500 per year for a non-trading GBC and EUR 4,000-12,000 for an actively trading one.

Corporate Banking for Your Mauritian GBC

The right bank for a Mauritian GBC depends on what you’ll actually do with the company. Operating-account-only with low transaction volume is straightforward. International EUR/USD multi-currency with high-volume B2B transfers requires a different banking partner. E-commerce processing has yet another set of requirements.

For Mauritius entities specifically, we work with relationship managers at international banks that accept mauritius-domiciled corporate structures — a noticeably narrower set than for onshore EU companies. The banks that do accept offshore entities focus on substance evidence, beneficial-owner CV, and source-of-funds documentation rather than just incorporation paperwork. Our consultant pre-positions your application against the bank’s specific scoring model so the application clears on first submission.

Comparable Jurisdictions

Operators evaluating Mauritius for a formation project frequently also look at:

  • Seychelles formation — Cheapest IBC, 24h formation, EUR 100 capital; 2026 CIT 0% offshore.
  • Singapore formation — ASEAN HQ, fintech licensing, treaty network; 2026 CIT 17% / start-up exemptions.

Each of those jurisdictions has its own trade-off matrix on tax, banking, substance, and operational practicalities. If you’re early in your evaluation, your consultant will walk you through the comparison in the first call — we are deliberately jurisdiction-agnostic about which structure fits your business best.

More Frequently Asked Questions

Will my Mauritian GBC need a local-resident director?

Most Mauritius corporate structures do not require a local-resident director — you and your appointed directors can be resident anywhere. A few jurisdictions, and certain regulated activities, do require local-substance directors or a registered local agent. Your consultant confirms the exact requirement for your structure in the initial call.

How do I close or sell my Mauritian GBC later?

A Mauritian GBC can be wound up voluntarily through a FSC dissolution procedure (typical timeline 6-12 months including the statutory creditor-notice period). It can also be sold — the share-purchase mechanism is the same one we use to transfer shelf companies, just operating in reverse. We handle both routes; clients often resell a no-longer-needed GBC as a shelf entity to recover part of the original investment.

Are there sector-specific licences I should know about?

Some activities require sector-specific licences in Mauritius — banking, insurance, investment services, crypto-asset services, gambling, and others depending on your business model. The standard GBC we form is suitable for non-regulated commercial activity; licensing is layered on afterwards where needed. Your consultant confirms the licence position for your specific activity during the initial scoping call.

What if I need to operate in multiple countries?

A Mauritian GBC can hold subsidiaries, branches, or contractual relationships in other jurisdictions. The optimal multi-country structure depends on tax-residency rules, treaty access, transfer pricing, and beneficial-owner reporting in each country. ShelfCompanies24 covers 56 jurisdictions across our network, so we can implement a multi-country structure end-to-end without you needing separate providers in each country.

How do I get started?

Send us a short message with your country preference (or that you’re undecided), the activity you have in mind, and whether you’d prefer a pre-formed shelf GBC ready in 48 hours (from EUR 4,500) or a fresh formation taking 5 days (from EUR 2,500). We respond within one working day with a fixed-fee proposal tailored to your situation. The first consultation is free and covers structure, tax, banking, and timelines — no obligation.

What ongoing support does ShelfCompanies24 provide after the GBC is formed?

Our retainer-based ongoing service covers the full annual lifecycle of a Mauritian GBC: registered office and mail handling, accounting and bookkeeping, periodic VAT/sales-tax filings (where applicable), payroll for any employed staff, beneficial-owner-register maintenance, FSC confirmation/return filings, and the year-end financial statements plus corporate-tax return. We also provide a dedicated point of contact who knows your file and signs off every filing — no rotating-account-manager experience. Specialised work (transfer-pricing studies, restructurings, M&A on the GBC, or sector-specific licensing) is quoted separately. Most clients find the predictable annual fixed fee far easier to budget than buying piecemeal services from local accountants and lawyers, especially when starting out in Mauritius.

What happens if my circumstances change and I no longer need the GBC?

You have three practical options. Voluntary dissolution through a FSC winding-up is the cleanest route — fixed-fee handled by us, typically completed inside 6-12 months including the statutory creditor-notice period. Sale of the GBC as a shelf entity to another buyer is sometimes possible — especially if it has clean trading history and a recognisable name; we evaluate this on a case-by-case basis. Mothballing via reduced-cost dormant filings keeps the GBC alive at minimal annual cost (registered office plus nil filings, typically EUR 1,200-1,800 per year) for the day you might want to use it again. Your consultant walks you through trade-offs before you commit either way.

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