Authorised Company in Mauritius: Definition, Features and Uses

An authorised company in Mauritius is an ordinary company incorporated under the Companies Act that has received a specific authorisation from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) because it is owned by non-citizens, trades mainly outside Mauritius and is managed and controlled from abroad. It is often called an "Authorised Company" or "AC". It is the lightest of the two regimes the Mauritian legislation reserves for companies that serve foreign owners and foreign markets.

This page is the reference point for the whole site. It sets out the meaning of the term, the legal basis, the main features, the people who use the vehicle and its limits. Each aspect has its own page, linked where it is relevant, and the details always depend on the facts of your case.

What is an authorised company in Mauritius?

The expression "authorised company meaning" comes up often in searches, and the answer is narrower than people expect. An authorised company is not a separate legal form. It is a company incorporated in Mauritius, with a legal personality, shareholders, a director and a constitution like any other, which additionally holds an authorisation under section 71A of the Financial Services Act 2007 (Act 14 of 2007).

Three ideas sit behind that authorisation:

• Foreign ownership. The majority of the shares or voting rights is held or controlled by a person who is not a Mauritian citizen.
• Foreign activity. The company carries on, or plans to carry on, its business mainly outside Mauritius.
• Foreign control. Its central management and control sit outside Mauritius.

When these conditions are met, the law requires the company to apply to the FSC. The authorisation is what turns an incorporated company into an Authorised Company. For a closer look at the term itself, see what the term actually covers.

A non-resident company by design

Because the central management and control are abroad, the company is treated as non-resident for Mauritian tax purposes. This is why the vehicle is also described as a non-resident company, a point examined on the page about how it works for foreign owners. "Offshore" is an everyday word for the same idea; it is not a legal category, and the vehicle is fully recognised and supervised under Mauritian law.

The legal basis: the Financial Services Act and the Income Tax Act

Two statutes frame the vehicle.

The Financial Services Act 2007 contains the authorisation regime. Section 71 governs the Global Business Licence, and section 71A governs the Authorised Company. The consolidated text published by the FSC is current as at 1 September 2026.

The Income Tax Act then classifies both kinds of company together. It defines a "global business entity" as including a company holding a Global Business Licence from the FSC and a company authorised under section 71A of the Financial Services Act, that is an Authorised Company. That shared label matters for a few tax provisions, explained further down.

How the authorisation is obtained

An application for authorisation is not filed by the owner personally. Under section 71A(2)-(3), it goes through an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence), in the form and manner the FSC decides, with the information, documents and fees set by the FSC Rules. The authorisation is issued by the Chief Executive on behalf of the Commission.

Since 1 October 2024 (Act 11 of 2024), the FSC must grant an application within 10 working days of the date on which it is considered complete (section 17B), and this deadline also covers authorisation applications (section 17C), except for applications filed before that date. The clock runs from the moment the file is complete, not from the first submission, so the time to assemble the documents still counts for the owner. For a broader view of timing, see how long set-up takes.

The practical sequence for a new project is covered step by step on the page about opening an offshore company in Mauritius.

Legal features of an authorised company

The following features come from the statute and are what distinguish the vehicle from an ordinary domestic company.

Central management and control outside Mauritius

This is the defining condition. The directors take the decisions that count from outside the country. If the real centre of decision-making drifts to Mauritius, the premise of the authorisation is weakened, with consequences for both regulation and tax. The topic is developed in the guide on managing an authorised company from abroad.

A Mauritian registered agent, always

An authorised company must have a registered agent in Mauritius at all times, and that agent must be an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence). Under section 71A(8), the registered agent's role covers in particular:

• filing the returns and documents required by the Financial Services Act, the Income Tax Act or the Companies Act;
• passing on communications with the FSC, the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) and the Registrar of Companies;
• anti-money-laundering and countering-the-financing-of-terrorism (AML/CFT) measures;
• keeping the records, such as minutes, resolutions and transaction documents.

A change of registered agent is not free of formalities: since 1 August 2024 (Act 11 of 2024), the application to appoint a new one must be accompanied by the fee set by the FSC Rules (section 71A(7)(b)). If you are comparing providers, the page on what a provider does for the company and the checklist of questions to put to them are useful starting points.

A light governance requirement

According to the official page on domestic incorporation, a domestic company needs at least one resident director and one shareholder, whereas Global Business and VCC companies need two resident directors. The Authorised Company needs one director, who does not have to be resident, together with the mandatory registered agent. This is one of the reasons the vehicle suits a sole owner living abroad; see the page on the one-owner authorised company for the structural side.

Activities it cannot carry on

Unless the FSC Rules provide an exception, an authorised company may not carry on the activities listed in the Fourth Schedule of the Financial Services Act. There are five categories:

1. banking;
2. professional management or administration of a collective investment fund or scheme;
3. financial services;
4. registered office, nominee, directorship or secretarial services for companies;
5. professional trusteeship.

A company that operates as an Authorised Company without authorisation commits an offence punishable by a fine of up to MUR 1 000 000 (section 71A(12)). The same ceiling applies to a company that carries on the activity described in section 71(1) without a Global Business Licence.

The law also provides that an authorised company is deemed to carry on business outside Mauritius even if it performs the transactions referred to in section 73(1)(c) to (f) of the Financial Services Act (section 71A(13)). What sort of business is realistic is the subject of the page on what an authorised company can run.

Who must apply, and who is eligible?

Section 71A(1) applies to a company incorporated under the Companies Act when three things are true together: a non-citizen holds or controls the majority of the shares or voting rights, the business is carried on mainly outside Mauritius, and central management and control are outside Mauritius. In that case the company must apply for authorisation.

The test is therefore about the company's profile, not the passport of the person typing the application. Whether a foreign national may hold the shares at all is answered in the question on foreign ownership.

A related rule exists for a Mauritian-resident company owned by non-citizens and doing business mainly abroad that is managed from Mauritius: it must apply for a Global Business Licence (section 71(1)). Banks licensed by the Bank of Mauritius are excluded. Which route applies depends on where the company is really run, which is a question for an adviser rather than a choice made from a brochure.

The diagram is a simplification. Real cases involve more facts, such as where the directors live and where contracts are signed, and the page on requirements for an authorised company goes further into them.

Authorised company vs other Mauritian vehicles

The comparison below puts the authorised company beside the vehicles it is most often confused with. It covers only the differences set by the statute and the official incorporation page.

Trusts and foundations are a different category altogether. They are asset-holding instruments, not trading companies, and are discussed elsewhere on the site. For the choice between a foreign-owned company and a local one, the page on offshore or local company walks through the criteria.

Fees under the 1 July 2026 schedule

The Financial Services (Consolidated Licensing and Fees) (Amendment) Rules 2026 (Government Notice No. 119 of 2026) were made by the FSC on 29 June 2026 and came into force on 1 July 2026. They replace the fee schedule, including the one for the Global Business Licence and the Authorised Company.

Several points deserve attention.

The first annual fee is pro-rated. It depends on the quarter in which the authorisation is granted: 1 400 USD (July-September), 1 050 USD (October-December), 700 USD (January-March) or 350 USD (April-June).

Late payment costs more. The 1 400 USD annual fee rises to 1 750 USD if paid within one month after the due date, 2 100 USD between one and three months late, and 2 800 USD between three and six months late.

The 2026-27 deadline was moved. For the 2026-27 renewal cycle, the FSC postponed the payment deadline for annual fees to 30 September 2026. Payment is made on the FSC One platform, including by direct debit or from the deposit account of an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence).

The FSC explained the reform. In its communiqué of 10 July 2026, the FSC stated that processing fees had not changed since the 2008 rules and that annual fees had not been reviewed since 2019. It presents the reform as the implementation of a 2025/26 budget measure, and justifies the adjustment of authorised company fees by their higher inherent risk profile.

On the same schedule, an authorised company pays 600 USD in processing fees and then 1 400 USD a year (excluding the Registrar's 65 USD), against 600 USD and then 2 600 USD a year for a Global Business Corporation, which is 1 200 USD less in annual fee. These are the regulator's fees only; the provider's own charges are separate and vary, as covered in the guide to annual fees to keep the company alive.

How an authorised company is taxed, in outline

Taxation is the part of the topic where the most mistakes are made, so the safest approach is to set out the rules and their conditions rather than a slogan.

• The corporate tax rate in Part IV of the First Schedule to the Income Tax Act 1995 is 15% of taxable income, applied to any company by section 44 subject to the special regimes in sections 44B and 44C.
• Under section 73(1)(b), a company is tax resident in Mauritius if it is incorporated there or if its central management and control are there.
• Section 73A treats a Mauritian-incorporated company as non-resident if it is centrally managed and controlled outside Mauritius. It must nevertheless file an income tax return under section 116.
• Every company, taxable or not, files its return with the Director-General no later than 6 months after the end of the month in which its financial year closes (section 116(1)). For a year ending in June, the deadline is 2 working days before the end of December (section 116(2)); for a year ending in December, 2 working days before the end of June (section 116(2C)). Filing and payment are electronic.
• The Alternative Minimum Tax of section 44A (10% of adjusted book profit where normal tax is lower) does not apply to a global business entity. It targets hotels, insurers, financial intermediaries, property companies and telecommunications companies.

Separately, the Second Schedule contains partial exemptions, for instance 80% on foreign-source dividends, subject to conditions: the dividend must not have been deducted in the source country and the company must meet the substance requirements set by regulation. Whether any relief applies to your company turns on facts and on the substance in place, which is why a written analysis from an adviser is needed before relying on it.

Nothing in Mauritian law decides how the owner is taxed in the country where they live; that is governed by that country's rules, including those on controlled foreign companies and permanent establishments. The page on authorised company taxation develops the Mauritian side, and the guides on CFC rules and on the owner's tax at home cover the other.

Who uses an authorised company, and for what?

The vehicle is used by people who earn income from outside Mauritius and who are organised to run the business from elsewhere. The usual profiles, by activity:

• E-commerce and online sellers, who want a company between their customers, payment processors and suppliers. See e-commerce through an offshore company.
• Consultants and advisers invoicing foreign clients, where the question is whether the client will accept the contracting entity. See running a consulting business.
• International traders buying and reselling goods without stocking them in Mauritius. The Finance Act 2026, as of 13 August 2026, widens the definition of "export of goods" to include international buying and selling of goods shipped directly from the exporting country to the importing country without a physical stop in Mauritius; see international trading from Mauritius.
• Freelancers working across borders, for whom the arithmetic of a company rather than a sole-trader status is the real question. See freelancing internationally.
• Holders of intellectual property, who want rights and royalties to sit in one entity. See holding intellectual property.

In every one of these cases, the structure is only worth its cost if the business genuinely suits it. A company that gets in the way of banking, or that exposes the owner to tax at home without any compensating benefit, is a poor choice. The discipline is to start from the activity and the owner's residence, then ask whether the vehicle fits, never the reverse.

Ownership, beneficial owners and privacy

An authorised company is not an anonymous company. Every Mauritian company must permanently identify its beneficial owner and, where relevant, any nominee, and record them in a separate register: full name and residential address, national identity or passport number, nationality, and the ownership structure identifying the ultimate beneficial owner (Companies Act 2001, section 91(3A), as updated on 15 May 2026).

The Registrar of Companies keeps a Beneficial Ownership Register accessible to all competent authorities and other prescribed public authorities. The Companies Act does not describe this register as public. The beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls the company, or on whose behalf a transaction is carried out, through direct or indirect shareholding above a prescribed percentage, voting rights, an ownership interest or control by other means. The earlier section 91 definition used 25% of voting rights.

In addition, the corporate service provider is itself a regulated profession: the Company Service Provider appears among the persons subject to the FIAMLA, with the Registrar of Companies as supervisory body. This is why a provider will ask for identity and source-of-funds documents before accepting a client. The question of confidentiality is treated at more length on whether the owner stays private.

Limits to keep in mind before choosing

The vehicle has a clear scope, and its limits are as important as its features.

• No dealing in the reserved activities. The five Fourth Schedule categories are closed to it.
• No presumption of treaty access. The vehicle is not designed to give access to double tax treaties; the page on the limits of an authorised company covers this and other constraints.
• Banking is not automatic. Banks assess the business, the owners and the country links. See the page on banking options for an offshore company.
• Permanent annual duties. The registered agent, the FSC fee, the income tax return and the financial summary come back every year. The page on annual obligations lists them, and the registered agent also keeps the records.

On the reporting side, an authorised company must file with the FSC, every year and at the latest 6 months after the end of its financial year, a financial summary in the form of the Ninth Schedule to the Companies Act (or other documents specified by the FSC Rules), under section 71A(10).

The FSC's own role towards the company, from authorisation to supervision, is described on the page about the Authorised Company and the FSC.