Mauritius Authorised Company vs BVI Company

If you are weighing a mauritius vs bvi offshore company, you are really comparing two very different kinds of legal vehicle. The British Virgin Islands (BVI) company is a long-established, low-formality holding and trading shell. The Mauritius Authorised Company (AC) is a newer licensed category inside a jurisdiction with a treaty network, a regulated services sector and a more supervised image.

This page compares an authorised company vs BVI company for an owner who lives abroad. It sticks to what Mauritian law and official fee schedules say. We do not quote BVI fees or rules, because they are set by BVI authorities and change; check them with a BVI registered agent before deciding. The general information here is not advice, and the right answer depends on where you live and what you sell.

The short answer

Neither vehicle is better in the abstract. Roughly:

• A Mauritius Authorised Company suits an owner who wants a regulated, documented structure, a Mauritian registered agent and a jurisdiction that banks and counterparties tend to know as a supervised financial centre.
• A BVI company suits an owner who prioritises light formalities and a very familiar corporate form, and who accepts that some banks and payment providers treat it with more caution.

Your home-country tax rules often matter more than either choice. See how the owner of an offshore company is taxed at home before comparing anything else.

What each vehicle is

The Mauritius Authorised Company

An Authorised Company is a company incorporated under the Companies Act that is owned or controlled mainly by non-citizens of Mauritius, does its business mainly outside Mauritius, and has its central management and control outside Mauritius. It must obtain an authorisation from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) under section 71A of the Financial Services Act 2007. For the full definition, read Authorised Company in Mauritius: definition, features and uses.

Two features shape everything else:

• The application is filed through an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence), which then acts as the company's permanent registered agent in Mauritius.
• Management and control must sit outside Mauritius. The company is then treated as non-resident for income tax purposes under section 73A of the Income Tax Act, but it must still file a tax return.

The BVI company

A BVI business company is formed under BVI legislation and administered through a BVI-licensed registered agent. It is known for quick formation and minimal public filing. Today it also sits within economic substance and beneficial ownership reporting rules that apply to many offshore centres. Because the details are BVI law, confirm them locally.

Side-by-side comparison

Cost: what Mauritius publishes

Fee transparency is one real advantage of the Authorised Company. The FSC's Financial Services (Consolidated Licensing and Fees) (Amendment) Rules 2026 (Government Notice No. 119 of 2026) took effect on 1 July 2026 and replaced the earlier scale, including for the Authorised Company.

The 1,400 USD annual figure excludes the annual registration fee payable to the Registrar of Companies. That fee is shown as 65 USD (or another amount set by the Registrar) in the FSC schedule, while the Registrar's own 2026 fee page lists 130 USD for an Authorised Company, rising to 200 USD after the due date. Treat the Registrar's page as the reference for what you actually pay there.

Other cost points worth knowing:

• The first annual fee is prorated by the quarter in which the authorisation is granted: 1,400 USD for July to September, 1,050 USD for October to December, 700 USD for January to March and 350 USD for April to June.
• Late payment costs more: 1,750 USD within a month after the due date, 2,100 USD between one and three months late, and 2,800 USD between three and six months late.
• For the 2026-27 cycle the FSC moved the payment deadline for annual fees to 30 September 2026, with payment through the FSC One platform.
• You will also pay your registered agent's own service fee, which is a commercial matter and not set by the FSC. Annual fees to keep an Authorised Company alive lists every layer.

The FSC explained that processing fees had not changed since the 2008 rules and annual fees had not been reviewed since 2019, and that the reform implements a 2025/26 budget measure. It also justified the adjustment for Authorised Companies by their higher inherent risk profile. In plain terms: expect these figures to be reviewed again, and do not budget on old fee tables.

On the BVI side we give no figures here. Compare like with like by asking a BVI agent for its full first-year and annual price, including the agent's own charge.

Reputation: perception versus rules

Reputation is where many owners decide, and it is where generalisation is dangerous.

Mauritius presents the Authorised Company as a supervised vehicle. The FSC authorises it, a licensed provider files for it and keeps its records, and the company must lodge an annual financial summary with the FSC within six months after its year end. Counterparties can verify the licence status of the provider; how to check a service provider is licensed by the FSC shows how.

A BVI company is also legitimate, but its name tends to trigger a stricter review in onboarding, particularly for payment processors and some European banks. That is a practical observation about due diligence, not a legal defect.

Two cautions apply to both:

1. The label "offshore" itself invites questions. Read is an offshore company legal? and how clients and suppliers perceive an offshore company.
2. Blacklist and grey-list status changes over time. Check the current position for both jurisdictions on the day you decide, not from a comparison page.

Banking

Banking is the practical test. A company that cannot open or keep an account cannot operate.

Mauritius gives an Authorised Company no automatic access to the domestic banking system. Banks apply their own risk appetite, look for real activity and ask for documents on the ultimate owner. A related point for a Global Business Corporation, which is a different vehicle: it must keep its main bank account in Mauritius. An Authorised Company has no such rule in the provisions we reviewed, which leaves you free to bank where the provider and the lender agree.

Whichever route you choose, expect questions about the source of funds, the business model and the people behind it. Common reasons for refusal are set out in why banks refuse offshore company accounts, and the Mauritian options are covered in banking options for an offshore company.

Both Mauritian companies and BVI companies must hold beneficial ownership information. In Mauritius, every company must identify its beneficial owner and any nominee at all times and keep a separate register with name, 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 Registrar keeps a Beneficial Ownership Register open to competent authorities and prescribed public authorities; the Companies Act does not describe it as public. For more detail see is the owner of an offshore company private?.

Tax: where the vehicles differ

The tax side needs care, because a tax result depends on facts, not on the form of the company.

• Residence. A Mauritian company is tax resident if incorporated in Mauritius or if its central management and control are there (section 73 of the Income Tax Act). Section 73A treats an Authorised Company managed and controlled abroad as non-resident, yet it must still file a return under section 116.
• Global business entity. The Income Tax Act includes both a Global Business Licence holder and an Authorised Company in the definition of "global business entity". The Alternative Minimum Tax of section 44A does not apply to such entities.
• Partial exemptions. The Second Schedule contains partial exemptions of 80 percent for certain foreign-source dividends and interest, subject to conditions including substance. These are conditional rules, not a guaranteed outcome, and each Authorised Company's position should be reviewed by an adviser.
• Certificates and treaties. A person who wants to be certified as Mauritian resident can ask the Director-General of the MRA for a Tax Residence Certificate. An Authorised Company managed from abroad is non-resident, so the usual treaty route is not available to it in the way it is for a Global Business Corporation. See limits of an Authorised Company.

For a BVI company, tax treatment is a BVI matter and your home country may tax the profits regardless. Look at controlled foreign company rules and permanent establishment risk whichever vehicle you choose.

Mauritius's two global vehicles

Mauritius has two global-business routes, and mixing them up is a common error. The Global Business Corporation is governed by section 71 of the Financial Services Act 2007 and must be managed and controlled from Mauritius, carry on its essential income-generating activities there and have two resident directors. The Authorised Company, under section 71A, does the opposite: its central management and control stay outside Mauritius, and it needs one director who need not be resident.

At the 1 July 2026 scale, the Authorised Company pays 600 USD for processing and then 1,400 USD a year (excluding the Registrar's fee), against 600 USD and 2,600 USD a year for a Global Business Corporation, a difference of 1,200 USD in the annual fee. That difference exists because the two are not interchangeable. Consider which suits you with an adviser.

Practical use cases

Where an owner is choosing between the two, the business activity often points the way:

• Service income and consulting, invoiced to clients abroad: both can work in principle; Mauritius gives you a regulated agent and a clearer fee table. See running a consulting business through an offshore company.
• E-commerce and software: payment providers will scrutinise either; see taking online payments with an offshore company and e-commerce through an offshore company.
• Holding intellectual property: look closely at withholding tax and substance. The Second Schedule exempts royalties paid to a non-resident out of foreign-source income, but your own country's rules may still apply.
• Regulated activities: an Authorised Company cannot carry on the Fourth Schedule activities of the Financial Services Act, including banking, professional fund management, financial services, corporate services and professional trusteeship, unless the FSC Rules provide otherwise.

Setting up and running the company

An Authorised Company moves through a standard path: instruct a licensed provider, file the application, receive the authorisation, then comply every year. Since 1 October 2024 the FSC must grant a complete application within 10 working days of the date it is considered complete, a rule that also covers Authorised Company applications. For the process, read how to open an offshore company in Mauritius.

Once the company exists, the registered agent files returns and documents, relays communications with the FSC, the MRA and the Registrar, carries out anti-money-laundering checks and keeps records such as minutes and resolutions. Changing agent later requires a fee under the FSC Rules (since 1 August 2024). Ask the right questions at the start: questions to ask an offshore FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence).

A company that trades as an Authorised Company without authorisation commits an offence, punishable by a fine of up to MUR 1,000,000. An unlicensed adviser is therefore a legal risk, not only a commercial one.