Import-Export Business Through an Offshore Company

Many readers searching for an import export offshore company in Mauritius have the same picture in mind: a supplier in one country, a buyer in another, and a company in Mauritius that buys and resells in between. The picture is legitimate, but the details decide whether it works: where the goods travel, who handles customs, which bank issues the letter of credit, and where the company is really managed.

This page looks at goods trading from the angle of the Authorised Company (AC). It covers the paperwork, customs, trade finance and banking. For the general case of an international trading company, see international trading in Mauritius.

What an import-export Authorised Company actually does

An Authorised Company is incorporated in Mauritius but must have its central management and control outside Mauritius. Under the Income Tax Act, a Mauritian-incorporated company that is centrally managed and controlled abroad is treated as non-resident (section 73A), yet it must still file an income tax return under section 116. The mechanics are explained in how a non-resident company works.

In a typical goods flow, the AC:

• signs a purchase contract with a supplier abroad;
• signs a sale contract with a buyer in another country;
• issues the commercial invoices and bears the margin and the commercial risk;
• instructs the goods to move directly from supplier to buyer.

The company is a contracting and invoicing vehicle. It is not a warehouse, a shop or a customs broker.

Goods that never reach Mauritius

The cleanest flow for an AC is a back-to-back trade shipped directly from the exporting country to the importing country. The Finance Act 2026 now reflects this in the Income Tax Act: since 13 August 2026, the definition of "export of goods" includes the international purchase and sale of goods shipped directly from the exporting country to the importing country without a physical stop in Mauritius. The same amendment covers the sale of aviation fuel to an airline.

That change matters for classification, but it does not turn every AC into a beneficiary of a special regime. Whether a given company qualifies for any particular rate or relief depends on its facts, and you should have an adviser confirm it before relying on it. See taxation of an Authorised Company for the wider picture.

Goods travel from the supplier to the buyer. Money and documents travel through the AC.

The document flow, step by step

In goods trading, the paperwork is the product. A bank, a customs authority or an auditor will reconstruct your transaction from documents alone, so each step needs a paper trail that agrees with the others.

Three habits prevent most problems:

1. Keep descriptions identical across the purchase order, invoice, transport document and credit. A banker rejects on discrepancies, not on intent.
2. Name the AC as the contracting party on both sides. If the supplier ships "on behalf of" someone else, the chain of title breaks.
3. Agree the incoterm in writing. It tells you who arranges transport and insurance and who bears the risk, which in turn affects what you must declare and to whom.

For invoicing mechanics, see invoicing clients from an offshore company.

Customs and offshore company goods: who is responsible?

Customs duties and formalities attach to the movement of goods, not to the legal form of the company that sells them. Four points follow.

• Declarations happen in the countries where goods enter or leave. The importer of record in the destination country (often the buyer, sometimes the AC through an agent) deals with the local customs authority.
• The AC does not clear goods through Mauritius if they never arrive there. If you do bring goods into or through Mauritius, Mauritian customs rules apply and you should plan for them separately with a customs broker.
• Classification, origin and valuation are the usual sources of dispute. The invoice value, tariff code and country of origin must be consistent across every document.
• Sanctions, export licences and restricted goods remain the trader's responsibility. A Mauritian vehicle does not remove any of them.

Customs authorities and banks tend to ask the same first question: who is the real beneficial owner? Every Mauritian company must at all times identify its beneficial owner and any nominee and record them in a separate register, with full name, residential address, national identity or passport number, nationality and the holding structure that identifies the ultimate beneficial owner (Companies Act 2001, section 91(3A)). The Registrar of Companies keeps a Beneficial Ownership Register, accessible to competent authorities. The Companies Act does not describe it as public. More on this in ownership privacy.

Letters of credit and trade finance

A letter of credit (L/C) is the instrument that makes unfamiliar counterparties trade. The buyer's bank promises to pay the seller once compliant documents are presented. For a young AC, three practical realities apply.

Who issues and who confirms

The buyer's bank usually issues the L/C. A seller that doubts the issuing bank can ask for confirmation by a second bank. The AC will be judged on its own file: its ownership, its track record, and the quality of its documents.

Banks read the file, not the story

A bank financing or advising on a credit will look at the supplier and buyer, the goods, the route and the sanctions exposure. It will also ask who owns and controls the AC. A company with no operating history and vague answers will struggle. Readers who want to understand refusals can read why banks refuse offshore company accounts.

Plan documents to the credit, not the reverse

Ask for the draft L/C before production or shipment. Align your invoice, packing list and transport document with its wording. Amendments are cheaper before shipment than after.

Banking an import-export AC

Goods trading is one of the activities that banks examine most closely, because of the sanctions, origin and diversion risks that come with physical goods. Expect questions on your suppliers, your buyers, the shipping routes and the expected volumes.

A realistic banking plan has three layers:

• a main account, in a currency matching your contracts, that receives buyer payments;
• a way to pay suppliers in their own currency;
• trade-finance access, such as L/C advising or confirmation, which usually comes later and depends on the track record.

Details on the options sit in banking options for an offshore company and multi-currency accounts.

Tax points specific to goods exporters

The Mauritian tax system contains a reduced rate for companies exporting goods: 3%, under the First Schedule, Part II of the Income Tax Act, in force since 1 July 2017 according to the Mauritius Revenue Authority. Two cautions apply.

• The rate is attached to companies that meet the definition of exporters of goods. An AC must not assume it applies. Whether a non-resident AC can use it, and on what conditions, is a question for a tax adviser.
• The Finance Act 2026 excludes the export of live animals from the definition of "export of goods", and therefore from the reduced rate, with effect from 13 August 2026.

Other points that often come up:

• The Income Tax Act treats both a Global Business Licence holder and an Authorised Company as a "global business entity". The Alternative Minimum Tax of section 44A does not apply to global business entities.
• The Fair Share Contribution of companies also excludes global business entities.
• The tax position of the owner in their home country is a separate question. See how the owner is taxed at home and permanent establishment risk.
• If your customers are in the European Union, VAT may apply to the movement of goods regardless of where the seller is incorporated. See VAT on sales to EU customers.

Limits that matter for a goods trader

The law draws firm lines around what an AC can do.

Further limits:

• An AC cannot carry on the activities of the Fourth Schedule of the Financial Services Act: banking, professional fund management, financial services, corporate services such as nominee or secretarial services for companies, and professional trusteeship. A goods trader normally falls outside these, but financing or factoring other people's trades could stray into them.
• If a Mauritian-resident company is majority owned or controlled by a non-citizen and carries on business mainly outside Mauritius, section 71(1) of the Financial Services Act requires a Global Business Licence. Operating without the proper licence or authorisation is an offence punishable by a fine of up to MUR 1,000,000 (sections 71(5) and 71A(12)).
• A large share of local activity, such as stock held in Mauritius or local staff, pushes the structure towards a different regime. See when an AC is no longer enough and limits of an Authorised Company.

Annual obligations for a trading AC

The registered agent files the returns the law requires and keeps records such as minutes, resolutions and transaction documents. For a trader, "transaction documents" means your contracts, invoices and shipping papers. The AC must file with the FSC every year, within six months after the end of its financial year, a financial summary in the form set by the Ninth Schedule of the Companies Act (or other documents specified by the FSC Rules).

Since 1 July 2026, the authorisation of an AC (code FS-4.3) carries a processing fee of USD 600 and an annual fee of USD 1,400, the latter excluding the annual registration fee of USD 65 (or another amount set by the Registrar of Companies) payable to the Registrar. The FSC explained in its communiqué of 10 July 2026 that processing fees had not changed since the 2008 rules and annual fees had not been reviewed since 2019. More in annual fees and the yearly checklist.

Checklist before your first shipment

• Confirm that the goods are lawful to trade and not subject to sanctions or licensing
• Decide whether goods will ship directly between third countries or pass through Mauritius
• Check that the AC is managed and controlled outside Mauritius in practice
• Agree identical goods descriptions across contract, invoice and transport document
• Choose payment terms and, if needed, ask for the draft letter of credit early
• Prepare a bank file: ownership, supplier and buyer profiles, expected flows
• Confirm VAT and customs responsibilities in the destination country
• Ask your tax adviser about home-country exposure and any export rate
• Set up a routine to hand records to the registered agent