Case Study: Living in Mauritius While Owning an Authorised Company

Many people discover the Authorised Company while living abroad, then move to Mauritius a few years later. The company stays where it is, the owner changes address, and a question appears that nobody asked at incorporation: is this still a non-resident company? This case study follows an illustrative owner through that question. The scenario is invented to show the reasoning; it is not a real client and not advice.

The scenario: an expat in Mauritius with an Authorised Company

Anna, a software consultant, set up an Authorised Company while living in another country. She was the only director and the only shareholder. Her clients were abroad, invoices were paid into a foreign-currency account, and a licensed local provider acted as registered agent.

Two years later, Anna moves to Mauritius for lifestyle reasons. Her laptop goes with her, and so do the decisions: she signs contracts, approves payments and directs the work from a rented flat in Grand Baie. Nothing in the company file has changed, yet the facts behind it have.

This is the typical profile of someone searching for information on living in Mauritius owning an offshore company, or on whether an expat in Mauritius can own an Authorised Company. The ownership is rarely the issue. The issue is where the company is run.

Why residence in Mauritius changes the analysis

The test is control, not the owner's passport

An Authorised Company is not defined by who owns it alone. Under section 71A(1) of the Financial Services Act 2007, the company concerned is one incorporated under the Companies Act whose majority of shares or voting rights is held or controlled by a non-citizen of Mauritius, which conducts its business principally outside Mauritius, and whose central management and control are outside Mauritius.

The last condition is the one that bites. A foreign owner can hold an Authorised Company without difficulty. What the framework does not contemplate is a company whose real decision-making sits on the island.

Where non-resident treatment comes from

The Income Tax Act sets the default rule in section 73(1)(b): a company is resident in Mauritius if it is incorporated there or if its central management and control are there. An Authorised Company is incorporated in Mauritius, so by default it would fall within that definition.

Section 73A is what changes the result. A company incorporated in Mauritius is treated as non-resident if it is centrally managed and controlled outside Mauritius, and it must still file an income tax return under section 116. Non-resident treatment therefore depends on the same factual question: who really directs the company, and from where. For the wider picture, see how a non-resident company works for foreign owners.

This page does not cover personal tax residence or the immigration side of living on the island. Both are separate subjects with their own rules, and both depend on your individual situation.

What changes when the owner is also the decision-maker

Anna's situation shows three facts that matter more than the paperwork.

• The sole director lives in Mauritius. If every decision is taken by the one director, and that director is physically on the island, the company's centre of gravity has moved with them.
• The registered agent is not a substitute. The registered agent must be a FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence) and handles filings, communications with the authorities, anti-money laundering measures and record keeping under section 71A(8). That role is administrative. It does not turn the company into one controlled from abroad.
• The company file may be silent. The constitution and the filings usually describe the company as an Authorised Company, so nothing flags the change until someone looks at where meetings and decisions happen.

None of this means an automatic breach. It means the facts that support non-resident status need to be examined rather than assumed. The mechanics of control from outside the country are explained in managing an Authorised Company from abroad.

The options available to Anna

There is no single answer. The realistic paths are below, and the best one depends on her activity, her clients and her plans.

Option A: keep the Authorised Company and move control abroad

The company can remain an Authorised Company if its central management and control genuinely sit outside Mauritius. In practice that usually means a director based abroad who really takes the decisions, holds the meetings and signs the key documents, with Anna in a narrower role.

The word that matters is genuinely. A nominal director abroad who signs whatever Anna decides from Mauritius is unlikely to change the analysis. Whether the arrangement holds up is a question for a qualified adviser who sees the full facts. The rules on how many directors an offshore company needs are a useful starting point: the official incorporation page asks for one director for an Authorised Company, not necessarily resident, plus a registered agent.

Option B: move to a Global Business Licence

The other statutory category is the Global Business Corporation, governed by section 71 of the Financial Services Act 2007. It is built for the opposite situation: a company managed and controlled from Mauritius. Under the Act, a GBC must carry on its core income-generating activities in Mauritius, have two resident directors, and be administered by a FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence). Its accounting records must be kept at its registered office in Mauritius and its statutory financial statements prepared and audited in Mauritius.

For someone who has chosen to live on the island, this is the structure that fits their facts. It costs more to run and carries real substance requirements. The choice between the two licences is treated in detail elsewhere, so only the essentials are given here.

A related point: section 71(1) requires a resident company whose majority is held by a non-citizen, and which operates mainly outside Mauritius, to apply for a Global Business Licence. Operating in that category without the licence is an offence punishable by a fine of up to MUR 1,000,000, and the same maximum applies to a company operating as an Authorised Company without authorisation (sections 71(5) and 71A(12)).

Option C: a domestic Mauritian company

If most of the business is in fact done in Mauritius, or if the foreign element is small, an ordinary domestic company may be the honest answer. The official incorporation page asks for at least one resident director and one shareholder. A secretary who is ordinarily resident in Mauritius is also required, unless the company is a small private company (Companies Act, section 163).

A domestic company sits in the ordinary tax regime. Whether that is better or worse for Anna depends on numbers that only an adviser can assess. The decision framework in offshore company or local company walks through the criteria.

Option D: a structure elsewhere

Some owners conclude that the Mauritian vehicle no longer matches their life and move the business to a company in another jurisdiction. This is a legitimate outcome, not a failure, and it is discussed in when an Authorised Company is no longer enough.

Comparing the paths side by side

Which path fits? A short decision guide

What the change costs

The cost difference between the two licensed categories is documented. Under the fee rules in force since 1 July 2026 (Government Notice No. 119 of 2026), an Authorised Company pays 600 USD in processing fees and then 1,400 USD per year, not counting the annual registration fee of 65 USD payable to the Registrar of Companies. A GBC pays 600 USD and then 2,600 USD per year, which is 1,200 USD more each year.

Some points to keep in mind:

• The first annual fee is prorated by quarter of grant, so it is lower if authorisation is given later in the fee year.
• Late payment raises the Authorised Company annual fee to 1,750 USD within one month after the due date, 2,100 USD between one and three months, and 2,800 USD between three and six months.
• The fee reform replaced a scale that the FSC says had not changed since 2008 for processing fees and 2019 for annual fees. See annual fees to keep an Authorised Company alive for the routine side.
• Changing the provider also carries a fee fixed by the FSC Rules for both categories (sections 71(3)(aa) and 71A(7)(b)).

The fee is not the main cost. The main cost is substance: resident directors, local accounts and audit are real expenses for a GBC that an Authorised Company does not carry.

Practical steps for someone in Anna's position

Take the first step before anything is signed. A clear note of who decides what, written today, is more useful than reconstructing it later under questions from a bank or an authority. If you want a licensed provider to review your position, you can send a request through the site's contact form. The questions to put to a provider are listed in questions to ask an offshore management provider.

Other points an owner living in Mauritius should check

Beneficial ownership does not change

Every Mauritian company must identify its beneficial owner at all times and record the details in a separate register: full name and residential address, national identity or passport number, nationality and the holding structure up to the ultimate beneficial owner (Companies Act 2001, section 91(3A)). The beneficial owner must also give the company a written declaration and report any change. The Registrar of Companies keeps a Beneficial Ownership Register accessible to competent authorities and other prescribed public authorities; the Companies Act does not describe it as public. Moving to Mauritius updates your address in these records.

A permanent establishment elsewhere

A different problem can arise for clients and activities abroad. If a person acts for the company in another country in a way that creates a taxable presence, that country may claim the right to tax. The wider analysis is in permanent establishment risk for an offshore company.

The limits of the category

An Authorised Company cannot carry on the activities listed in the Fourth Schedule of the Financial Services Act: banking, professional collective investment fund management, financial services, corporate services such as nominee, director or secretarial services for companies, and professional trusteeship. These limits remain whether or not the owner lives on the island. The full list of constraints is in limits of an Authorised Company, and the regulator's role is described in the Authorised Company and the FSC.