Online Course Creators and Offshore Companies

Why course creators look at Mauritius

A creator who sells video lessons, cohorts or memberships to an international audience quickly runs into the same questions: which entity signs the platform contract, which entity receives the card payments, and where does the profit end up? An online course business offshore company is one possible answer, and the Mauritius Authorised Company is the version built for owners who live and work elsewhere.

The idea is simple. The company holds the contracts with the course platform and the payment provider, invoices or collects from students, and pays the founder through dividends or fees. The structure does not remove tax obligations at home. It moves the commercial relationship into a company, and the tax result depends on where you live, where decisions are taken and what the law of your home country says about foreign companies you control.

This page looks at the practical side of selling courses through such a company. For the general definition of the vehicle, start with what an Authorised Company is.

What the law requires of an Authorised Company

The Authorised Company is created under section 71A of the Financial Services Act 2007. The legal conditions that matter most to a course seller are these:

• Central management and control outside Mauritius. The company must be run from abroad. A founder who teaches from a laptop in another country can meet this naturally; one who moves to Mauritius cannot assume the same result. See managing an Authorised Company from abroad.
• A Mauritian registered agent. This must be an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence), and it files the application for authorisation on your behalf.
• No Fourth Schedule activities. An Authorised Company cannot carry on banking, professional fund management, financial services, corporate services or nominee, directorship and secretarial work, or professional trusteeship. Teaching, coaching and selling digital content are not on that list.
• At least one director, not necessarily resident in Mauritius, according to the official incorporation page.

A company that operates as an Authorised Company without authorisation commits an offence punishable by a fine of up to MUR 1 000 000. The requirements are covered in more detail in requirements for an Authorised Company.

How the sale actually flows

Each box is a separate legal or tax question. The company is the seller of record; the platform and the payment provider run their own checks on it; the students may sit in jurisdictions with their own consumer and indirect-tax rules.

Platforms and payment providers

Course platforms and payment processors normally ask for company documents, the identity of the owner and a bank account in the company's name. Providers vary in what they accept, and a Mauritius Authorised Company is sometimes treated cautiously because of the word "offshore". Expect to supply:

• the certificate and constitution of the company;
• identification of the beneficial owner, which Mauritian law requires every company to record in a separate register;
• a description of the course offer, pricing and refund terms;
• proof that you are the person running the business.

Payment questions are covered in taking online payments with an offshore company and in the page on why banks refuse offshore company accounts. If your students pay in several currencies, see multi-currency accounts.

VAT and digital-service rules

Courses delivered online are usually treated as digital or electronic services. That brings indirect-tax rules into play in the place where the student is located, not where the company is incorporated.

In Mauritius, foreign suppliers of digital or electronic services to persons located in Mauritius must register for VAT (15%) from 1 January 2026, whatever their turnover. A foreign digital supplier whose turnover in Mauritius exceeds MUR 3 million, or the equivalent, must also appoint a tax representative with a permanent establishment in Mauritius. Whether your own company counts as a foreign supplier for these rules depends on how it is organised and where it is managed, so this point should be confirmed with an adviser.

Other countries have their own regimes, often with low or no thresholds for sales to private individuals. The page on VAT when an offshore company sells to EU customers explains the logic for European buyers. Do not assume that selling from Mauritius removes the obligation to charge the tax due in the student's country.

Tax position of the company

An Authorised Company is a global business entity under the Income Tax Act. A company incorporated in Mauritius but centrally managed and controlled abroad is treated as non-resident for tax, though it must still file an income tax return under section 116. The details, and what they do not cover, are in Authorised Company taxation.

Two cautions apply to course creators in particular:

1. Permanent establishment. If the founder, an employee or a regular contractor works from a fixed place in another country, that country may claim the company has a taxable presence there. See permanent establishment risk.
2. Controlled foreign company rules. Many home countries tax the profits of a foreign company owned by their residents, whether or not it distributes them. See controlled foreign company rules.

Coach, creator or agency: which profile fits?

For the coaching angle, the question is rarely whether the company may sell the service. It is whether the founder's physical presence in a given country creates a local tax link. The page on consulting through an offshore company deals with the same issue for advisers.

Is it worth it for a course creator?

If the answer is uncertain, the comparison pages on a sole trader or an offshore company and on an offshore or local company may help.

Setting up and running the structure

The full process is in how to open an offshore company in Mauritius. Before engaging a provider, use how to check a service provider is licensed by the FSC. Once the company exists, what to do after your offshore company is set up lists the first practical tasks.

Paying yourself

A founder usually takes money out as dividends, as a fee for services, or as a mix. Each route has different tax consequences at home. Under the Income Tax Act, dividends paid by a Mauritian resident company are exempt from income tax for the recipient, with no withholding tax provided for them, but that says nothing about how your country of residence taxes the same payment. See paying yourself from an offshore company.

When Mauritius is not the answer

An Authorised Company cannot hold a financial-services business, and it is a poor fit if the real activity is advice on investments rather than education. Where substance in Mauritius is a business goal, a different licence type applies; see when an Authorised Company is no longer enough. If the central aim is to avoid tax rather than to organise a genuine business, the structure is likely to attract challenge, and general information such as this page cannot replace personal advice. You can send a request through the contact form.