Annual Compliance Checklist for a Mauritian Company

A company in Mauritius does not have one single yearly deadline. It has a handful of obligations that fall at different moments: some tied to the financial year end, some to the annual meeting, some to the calendar year, and some to the month. This annual compliance checklist for a Mauritius company groups them by theme so that the yearly obligations of a private company can be prepared in advance rather than discovered when a notice arrives.

The list is general. Which items apply depends on the type of company, its turnover, whether it holds a licence and whether it has employees. Where the answer depends on your situation, take advice from a qualified professional. The steps of filing the annual return itself are not repeated here; this page is about what you gather and decide beforehand.

How to use this checklist

Work through it once a year, ideally just after the financial year end, and again before the annual meeting. Each section ends with the points that most often cause a late filing. Dates are deliberately not hard-coded for items where the deadline is fixed by your own year end or meeting date; the compliance calendar shows how to turn those into a dated plan.

First, establish which category your company falls into, because it drives most of what follows.

Which category is your company?

A small private company is a private company whose turnover for the previous financial year is below Rs 100 million (MUR 100 million), which does not hold a Global Business Licence and is not an entity listed in the First Schedule of the Financial Reporting Act. A newly incorporated private company is treated as a small private company for its first financial year (Companies Act 2001, s. 2(5)–(7)). The Rs 100 million ceiling was raised from Rs 50 million by the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022.

Other companies (larger private companies, public companies, Global Business companies and others) carry heavier filing and fee obligations, and some have a separate regime with the Financial Services Commission (FSC). If your company is dormant, see keeping a dormant company compliant; if it is a small company with one director, see compliance for a small private company with one director.

The master checklist

Tick each line as it is completed. The items are grouped in the order they usually arise during a year.

Accounts and audit

• Close the books at the financial year end and reconcile bank, loan and shareholder accounts
• Confirm the bookkeeping is complete and supported by documents
• Prepare the annual financial statements, or the financial summary where the small private company route applies
• Decide whether an audit is required or whether an exemption applies, and record the reasoning
• Appoint or confirm the auditor if an audit is needed
• Have the directors approve and sign the financial statements

Meetings and decisions

• Hold the annual meeting of shareholders, or pass the equivalent written resolutions
• Hold the board meetings the company needs and write the minutes
• Record any dividend decision together with the board's assessment of solvency
• Review and record director appointments, resignations and interests declared

Registers and records

• Update the share register, directors' register and register of charges
• Update the separate beneficial ownership register
• Check that the secretary position is filled where one is required
• Confirm that the registered office and records are in order and accessible

Filings and fees at the Registrar

• Work out the annual fee payable for your category and turnover band
• File the annual return or No Change Return where it is required
• File the financial statements or financial summary within the period that applies
• Pay the annual fee before the due date to avoid the higher late amount

Tax and payroll

• Prepare the corporate income tax return and supporting computations
• Settle any tax due through the advance payment system, if the company is subject to it
• Calculate the CSR contribution and the CCR Levy where they apply
• File monthly PAYE, CSG and NSF returns and keep payslips

Anti-money laundering and governance

• Check whether the company, or its service provider, is a reporting person
• Refresh know-your-customer files and beneficial owner declarations
• Confirm who acts as compliance officer and record training
• Review the resident director arrangement

The sections below explain each group in turn.

Accounts, audit and financial statements

Good accounts begin with good bookkeeping. If invoices, bank statements and contracts are not already filed during the year, the year-end preparation becomes a reconstruction exercise. The bookkeeping requirements page sets out what a company is expected to keep.

For filing, the rule differs by category. A company that is not a small private company must file its financial statements with the Registrar within 28 days of their signature, or any other period the Registrar sets (Companies Act s. 215). A small private company files, together with its annual return, either a financial summary in the form of the Ninth Schedule or its financial statements. Under Rs 100 million of turnover, that summary may be prepared on a cash basis, covering profit and loss only (s. 215 and s. 211). The wording of the Act as updated to 15 May 2026 is the reference here.

Whether an audit is required is a separate question from whether statements must be filed. Read audit exemption before assuming either way, and keep a short note of the conclusion in the company's records. If an audit is needed, choosing and appointing an auditor explains the practical choices.

An Authorised Company has its own filing with the FSC: a financial summary in the Ninth Schedule model, or other documents specified by the FSC Rules, no later than six months after the financial year end (section 71A(10) of the Financial Services Act).

Meetings, resolutions and minutes

Decisions that are not written down are hard to prove later. The checklist therefore treats minutes and resolutions as year-end deliverables, not afterthoughts.

• Use the annual meeting of shareholders to approve what must be approved, or use written resolutions where the company's constitution and the law allow it.
• Hold board meetings often enough to evidence real oversight, and record them with board minutes.
• Before any dividend, the directors apply the solvency test and record the outcome.

The filing of the annual return depends on the date of the annual meeting, so the meeting date is the anchor of the corporate side of the year. Companies do not file an annual return in the calendar year in which they were incorporated.

Registers and beneficial ownership

A company keeps its legal registers up to date as events happen, but the end of the year is the right moment to test them. Read each register against the shareholders' and directors' actual position. The statutory registers page lists them, and company records covers retention.

The beneficial ownership register

Every Mauritian company must identify its beneficial owner at all times and, where relevant, any nominee, and record them in a separate register (Companies Act 2001, s. 91). The register holds:

• the full name and residential address;
• the national identity card or passport number;
• the nationality;
• the ownership structure that identifies the ultimate beneficial owner.

The company should also keep a record of the steps it took to identify the beneficial owner, including a written declaration from the beneficial owner. That person must tell the company of any change in status. The company must make sure the information is accurate, current and available to the competent authorities without delay on request.

The information is filed through CBRIS at incorporation, with the annual return and on any transfer or issue of shares. The Registrar of Companies keeps a Beneficial Ownership Register that is open to competent authorities and other prescribed public authorities; the Companies Act does not describe it as public. For the meaning of the term, see who counts as a beneficial owner and the page on the beneficial ownership register.

A company that existed before the relevant provisions of the Finance Act 2025 (Act No. 18 of 2025, Gazette No. 66 of 9 August 2025) had to comply by 30 June 2026 at the latest. If the register was never brought up to that standard, treat it as a priority, not a yearly tidy-up.

Registrar fees and the filing channel

The annual fee depends on the type of company and, for small private companies, on turnover recorded at the Corporate and Business Registration Department (CBRD). The 2026 fees below are taken from the CBRD schedule.

The 2026 amounts for the larger categories are double those of 2025, which were Rs 9 000 and Rs 13 500 for the private company above Rs 100 million and for the public and foreign company respectively. Check the current schedule before paying, because the figures are reviewed by the Registrar.

A small private company is priced on the turnover recorded at the CBRD. If its financial summary has not been filed, or is not yet due, the fee must be accompanied by a declaration from the directors confirming that turnover did not exceed Rs 30 million.

Filing and payment happen on CBRIS, the Companies and Businesses Registration Integrated System, a secure web application for registration, statutory forms and annual fees. Audit firms, corporate service providers, law firms, registered agents and companies with turnover of Rs 100 million or more must use the online service for their filings and payments (Companies Regulations, GN 3 of 2016, para. 5(1)–(2)).

Annual return or No Change Return

Every company files an annual return once a year, within 28 days of the date of its annual meeting, signed by a director or the secretary. A small private company is not required to file one unless there has been a change in its shareholding, board or other information (s. 223(1B) of the Companies Act, as amended in 2022).

According to the CBRD, if nothing has changed since the last annual return, a No Change Return (Form F26) certified by a director or the secretary can be filed. The annual return (Form F24) is needed after a structural change or, according to the CBRD, when turnover exceeds Rs 100 million. Before the year end, simply confirm which of these applies; the filing mechanics are covered elsewhere on the network.

Why late fees are not the main risk

The Registrar can remove a company from the register if, among other grounds, it has ceased business with no reason to continue, has not paid its registration fees, has not filed its annual return (s. 223(2)), is in liquidation without a liquidator, or has failed to file its beneficial ownership information (s. 309(1)). Late fees are a cost; striking off is a different order of problem. See penalties for non-compliance for the wider picture.

Companies with an FSC dimension

If the company is an Authorised Company, the FSC fees are separate from the Registrar's. From 1 July 2026 the scale is USD 600 for processing and USD 1 400 a year, excluding the annual registration fee of USD 65 (or another amount fixed by the Registrar) payable to the Registrar. The first annual fee is pro-rated by the quarter of grant: USD 1 400 for July to September, USD 1 050 for October to December, USD 700 for January to March and USD 350 for April to June.

Paying late increases the amount: USD 1 750 within a month after the due date, USD 2 100 between one and three months, and USD 2 800 between three and six months. For the 2026–27 renewal cycle the FSC moved the payment deadline to 30 September 2026, with payment through the FSC One platform, including by direct debit or from the deposit account of an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence).

For comparison, on the same scale a Global Business Company pays USD 600 for processing and USD 2 600 a year, which is USD 1 200 more in annual fees than an Authorised Company. The FSC described the reform in its communiqué of 10 July 2026, noting that processing fees had not changed since the 2008 rules and annual fees not since 2019.

Tax and payroll

Tax is the area where year-end tasks and monthly tasks overlap, so keep both lists.

• Corporate tax return. Gather the computations, supporting schedules and the list of deductible items early. See corporate income tax return filing and how a Mauritius company is taxed.
• Online filing. Confirm that the people who file have access to the MRA portal; the MRA online filing walkthrough explains it.
• Advance payments. Companies in the quarterly system pay in instalments; see the advance payment system.
• CSR and CCR Levy. For companies in the APS system, since the Finance Act 2026 the CCR Levy is paid in three instalments of 25 % with the APS returns and the balance with the annual return; other companies pay it with the annual return. The new rule takes effect from 13 August 2026. Review the CSR contribution page for the related charge.
• Payroll. If the company has employees, the monthly rhythm is PAYE, CSG and NSF; see PAYE, CSG contributions and NSF contributions.

Budget 2025–26 announced that the requirement to lodge a deposit or bank guarantee for the maintenance, support or repatriation of expatriate workers would be replaced by a non-refundable annual fee per expatriate worker. The amount was not specified in the annex consulted, so confirm it with the relevant authority if you employ foreign staff.

Anti-money laundering and officers

A company is not automatically a reporting person, but its service providers are. A Company Service Provider is among the professions covered by the FIAMLA, with the Registrar of Companies as supervisory body. The Act No. 3 of 2026 amended Part IV of the FIAMLA with effect from 18 April 2026, including suspicious transaction reporting and risk assessment, so any reporting person should review its procedures. The FIAMLA also provides for general feedback from the FIU to reporting persons.

For your company, the yearly questions are practical: are the client and beneficial owner files current, does someone hold the compliance role, and was training recorded? Start with AML/CFT compliance and the role of the MLRO.

Last, review the director set-up. A domestic company needs at least one resident director and one shareholder, according to the official domestic incorporation page; Global Business and VCC structures need two resident directors. Where a secretary is required, the person must be an adult natural person ordinarily resident in Mauritius, and the position cannot stay vacant for more than three months (s. 163). See the resident director overview.