Offshore Company for UAE Residents: Why Use Mauritius

A UAE resident offshore company in Mauritius is, in practice, an Authorised Company: a Mauritian company that is owned by a non-citizen, does its business mainly outside Mauritius and is managed and controlled from outside Mauritius. For someone who already holds a free zone licence, the question is rarely "which jurisdiction is better?" It is narrower: what would a second company in Mauritius add, and what would it demand in return?

This page looks at that question from the point of view of an owner who lives in the UAE. It does not give tax advice for the UAE or any other country, and the right answer depends on your residence, your activity and your clients. Treat it as a map of the Mauritian side so you can ask better questions of a qualified adviser.

Why a UAE-based owner looks at Mauritius at all

A Dubai-based owner usually has one of four reasons to look at a Mauritian company, and it helps to be honest about which one applies.

• A second corporate layer. Some owners want a holding or contracting entity separate from the operating free zone company, for instance to hold contracts, intellectual property or investments.
• Counterparty expectations. Some clients, platforms or partners prefer a company incorporated under a common-law company statute with a recognised regulator behind it.
• Banking diversification. Having a company that can open accounts in more than one place can reduce dependence on a single banking relationship. Whether it does depends on the banks, not on the company form.
• A non-resident status for the company. Mauritian law treats a company managed and controlled outside Mauritius as non-resident for income tax purposes, a point covered in more detail below.

If none of these applies, a Mauritian company may simply add cost and paperwork. The meaning of the Authorised Company is worth reading before you go further.

What a Mauritian non-resident company actually is

Under the Financial Services Act 2007, the Global Business Corporation is governed by section 71 and the Authorised Company by section 71A. The two are different tools. A Global Business Corporation must be managed and controlled from Mauritius, carry out its core income-generating activities there, have 2 resident directors and be administered by an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence). An Authorised Company is the reverse on the first point: its central management and control must be outside Mauritius.

A company incorporated under the Companies Act that is majority-owned or majority-controlled by a non-citizen of Mauritius, that does its business mainly outside Mauritius and whose central management and control sit outside Mauritius must apply to the Financial Services Commission (FSC) for authorisation as an Authorised Company (section 71A(1)). The application goes through an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence), and the authorisation is issued by the Chief Executive on behalf of the Commission.

For the role of the regulator, see the Authorised Company and the FSC.

Free zone company or Mauritian Authorised Company: side-by-side

The table below compares structural features that Mauritian law fixes. It deliberately says little about your free zone, because free zone rules differ from one zone to another and change over time. Check your own zone's current terms against the right-hand column.

Two points deserve emphasis. First, the Authorised Company is not a "free zone in Mauritius": it is an ordinary Mauritian company with a special authorisation and a set of conditions. Second, the comparison only makes sense for the activity you actually carry out. A licence that fits one activity in Dubai does not automatically fit the same activity in Mauritius.

Who controls the company, and from where

This is the heart of the matter for a UAE resident, because the owner's home is also, in most cases, the place where decisions are taken.

Section 73 of the Income Tax Act makes a company resident in Mauritius if it is incorporated there or if its central management and control are there. Section 73A then provides that a company incorporated in Mauritius is treated as non-resident if it is centrally managed and controlled outside Mauritius. Even then, it must file an income tax return under section 116.

For an owner who runs the company from Dubai, that sounds convenient: the place of control is outside Mauritius, exactly as the Authorised Company rules require. But it is also the place where other countries' rules may bite. Where the board actually meets, where the owner signs contracts and where the real decisions are taken can raise permanent establishment questions in the UAE or in the countries of your customers, and your home-country rules, if any, may look through the company. The practical question is not "may I manage it from abroad?" (you must) but "what does managing it from the UAE mean on the ground?". See managing an Authorised Company from abroad for the mechanics.

If you also hold a passport from a country with controlled foreign company rules, read the guide to CFC rules as well.

Roles and people you will need

Mauritian law asks for fewer local people for an Authorised Company than for a domestic or Global Business company, but it does not ask for none.

• A director. The official incorporation page indicates one director for an Authorised Company, not necessarily resident in Mauritius.
• A registered agent in Mauritius. It must be an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence), at all times. It files the returns and documents required under the Financial Services Act, the Income Tax Act or the Companies Act, passes on communications with the FSC, the Mauritius Revenue Authority and the Registrar, carries out anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing (AML/CFT) measures and keeps the records, including minutes, resolutions and transaction documents.
• No resident company secretary. A company other than a small private company or an Authorised Company must have a secretary who is an adult individual ordinarily resident in Mauritius. An Authorised Company is carved out of that requirement.

The agent is also the one who will ask you for identity documents and for the source of your funds. That is the law's doing: the company service provider is a reporting profession under the FIAMLA, and your agent is acting as a gatekeeper, not as a nuisance. For what to ask before you choose one, see questions to ask a service provider.

Ownership, privacy and the beneficial owner register

Every Mauritian company must identify its beneficial owner, and any nominee, on a continuing basis and record them in a separate register. The register holds the full name and residential address, national identity or passport number, nationality and the holding structure that leads to the ultimate beneficial owner (Companies Act 2001, section 91(3A), as updated on 15 May 2026). The company must keep a record of the steps taken, including a written declaration from the beneficial owner, who must tell the company of any change.

The Registrar of Companies keeps a Beneficial Ownership Register that is open to the competent authorities and certain other public authorities. The Companies Act does not describe it as a public register. That is a narrower statement than "anonymous": your name sits with the agent and the authorities. For more on the point, see the question page on whether the owner is private.

Companies incorporated before the Finance Act 2025 (Act No. 18 of 2025, Gazette No. 66 of 9 August 2025) provisions had until 30 June 2026 to comply.

What an Authorised Company may not do

Unless the FSC Rules provide an exception, an Authorised Company cannot carry on the activities of the Fourth Schedule to the Financial Services Act: banking; professional management or administration of a collective investment fund or scheme; financial services; corporate services such as registered office, nominee, directorship or secretarial services for companies; and professional trusteeship. That is five categories of barred activity.

The practical consequence for a UAE-based owner is plain. If your activity in the free zone is regulated financial, fund or corporate-services work, a Mauritian Authorised Company is not the right container. Operating as an Authorised Company without the authorisation is an offence carrying a fine of up to MUR 1,000,000 (section 71A(12)). A broader list of limits is in the limits of an Authorised Company.

What it costs in fees

Since the Financial Services (Consolidated Licensing and Fees) (Amendment) Rules 2026 (Government Notice No. 119 of 2026) came into force on 1 July 2026, the FSC fee schedule for an Authorised Company is as follows. Fees are a matter of FSC rules and can change, so check the current schedule before you commit.

The annual fee excludes the Registrar's 65 USD. The first annual fee is pro-rated by the quarter in which the authorisation is granted: 1,400 USD (July to September), 1,050 USD (October to December), 700 USD (January to March) and 350 USD (April to June). A late payment raises the fee: 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. For the 2026-27 renewal cycle, the FSC moved the payment deadline to 30 September 2026, with payment made through the FSC One platform.

In its communiqué of 10 July 2026, the FSC said that processing fees had not changed since the 2008 rules and annual fees had not been reviewed since 2019. It presented the reform as the implementation of a 2025/26 budget measure, and justified the adjusted fees for Authorised Companies by their inherently higher risk profile. These figures do not include your agent's own service fees, which are a commercial matter between you and the provider. See also annual fees.

Tax treatment, in outline

The Income Tax Act treats both a Global Business Corporation and an Authorised Company as a "global business entity". Two consequences are worth knowing.

• The Alternative Minimum Tax of section 44A (10% of adjusted book profit where normal tax falls below that level) does not apply to a global business entity.
• The Second Schedule exempts royalties paid by a company to a non-resident out of foreign-source income, and exempts interest paid to a non-resident carrying on no business in Mauritius by a Global Business Licence holder out of foreign-source income. These are withholding-tax exemptions on payments the company makes. They say nothing about how your own profits are taxed, in the UAE or elsewhere.

How the company's profits are taxed in Mauritius, and how the owner is taxed at home, are separate questions. Both depend on facts about you. They are developed on the taxation page. Nothing here is a statement that the structure reduces your overall tax.

Is it worth it for a UAE freelancer?

A search for a "UAE freelancer offshore structure" usually comes from a person who invoices clients abroad from a freelance or free zone licence. In that case, the Mauritian company is a second contracting entity, not a replacement. It adds a registered agent, an annual FSC filing, a separate set of accounts and a second banking relationship. For a small income, that weight can exceed the benefit; for a larger or more varied business, it may be justified.

Use the decision tree below as a first filter, not as advice.

Banking: the part to plan first

The Authorised Company is not an automatic key to a bank account. Banks run their own checks on the owner, the activity and the flow of funds, and a company owned from the UAE that sells abroad will be asked to explain itself. Read the banking page before you pay any fee, and ask the provider honestly which banks it has recently placed similar owners with.

Setting up: the sequence

The 10-working-day period runs from the date on which the application is considered complete, not from the date of first contact. The full path is described in how to open an offshore company, and the yearly routine in annual obligations.

One more practical point: if you later want to change provider, the application for a new registered agent must be accompanied by the fee set by the FSC Rules (section 71A(7)(b), since 1 August 2024).

Before you decide: a short checklist

• Name the specific purpose the Mauritian company will serve
• Confirm your activity is not among the barred categories
• Ask a UAE adviser how the company will be treated for UAE purposes
• Ask an adviser in your country of citizenship about look-through rules
• Decide where decisions will really be taken and document it
• Obtain the full fee quote from the provider, including its own charges
• Check the provider's licence on the FSC's own list

If you want a first conversation with a licensed provider, you can use the contact form on this site.