Corporate Compliance in Mauritius: What Applies to Your Company

Incorporation is a single event; compliance is what follows it for as long as the company exists. If you are asking what corporate compliance in Mauritius actually involves, the short answer is that it is not one obligation but several overlapping ones, owed to different bodies: the Registrar of Companies, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) and, for anti-money laundering, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the relevant supervisors.

This page is the hub. It sets out which company compliance obligations in Mauritius apply, why they differ from one company to another, and where to find the detailed guide for each. It gives general information, not advice: what applies to a particular company depends on its licence, activity, size, shareholders and employees, and should be confirmed with a qualified adviser.

Why two companies rarely have the same obligations

Three questions decide most of the workload.

• What kind of company is it? A domestic company, a holder of a Global Business Licence (GBC) and an Authorised Company sit under different regimes.
• What does it do? Employing staff, supplying taxable goods or services, or being a regulated business each adds a layer.
• Who owns and controls it? Ownership structure drives the beneficial ownership duties and the anti-money laundering checks your service providers must perform.

Domestic company, GBC or Authorised Company

According to the official domestic incorporation page, a domestic company needs at least one resident director and one shareholder. Global Business companies and VCCs need two resident directors, and an Authorised Company needs one director who is not necessarily resident, together with a registered agent.

The Financial Services Act draws the line more precisely. A GBC must be managed and controlled from Mauritius, carry out its core income generating activities in or from Mauritius, have two resident directors and be administered by an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence). An Authorised Company has its central management and control outside Mauritius, must keep a Mauritian registered agent that is itself an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence), and cannot carry on the activities listed in the Fourth Schedule of the Financial Services Act. The Income Tax Act treats both a GBC and an Authorised Company as a "global business entity", a label that matters later in the tax rules below. The detail of substance is covered elsewhere and is not repeated here.

The compliance map at a glance

Registry filings and the Registrar

The Corporate and Business Registration Department (CBRD), formerly the Companies Division of the Office of the Registrar of Companies, sits under the Ministry of Finance. It administers, among other texts, the Companies Act 2001, the Business Registration Act 2002, the Insolvency Act 2009, the Foundations Act 2012 and the Protected Cell Company Act 1999.

Filings are made through CBRIS, the Companies and Businesses Registration Integrated System, a secure web application used for registering businesses, incorporating companies, filing statutory forms and paying annual fees. Under the Companies Regulations (GN 3 of 2016, para. 5(1)-(2)), audit firms, FSC-licensed corporate service providers (Management Licence), company service providers, law firms, registered agents and companies with a turnover of at least Rs 100 million must use the online service for their filings and payments. In practice, most companies leave this to their provider.

Two points are worth noting for a company already in operation:

• A change of company name needs a special resolution of shareholders (unless the constitution provides otherwise), a copy of the resolution filed with the Registrar and, where relevant, a name reservation notice. The change takes effect on the date of the certificate the Registrar issues (Companies Act 2001, s. 36).
• A licensed company also has obligations to the FSC. For the 2026-27 renewal cycle, the FSC moved the deadline for annual fees to 30 September 2026, with payment through its FSC One platform, including by direct debit or from the deposit account of an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence).

The mechanics of the annual return and its timing are treated in the compliance calendar rather than here.

Governance: directors, board and shareholders

Governance is the part of compliance that leaves no certificate behind, which is why it is often the weakest. The Companies Act 2001 expects directors to act within their powers, to take decisions in a way that can be evidenced, and to keep the minutes and resolutions that prove it.

The resident director

A domestic company needs at least one resident director; a GBC needs two. The role is more than a name on a form, and the resident director guide explains what is expected, how the arrangement works when the director is supplied by a provider, and the exposure that comes with the office.

Board meetings, minutes and resolutions

Decisions are taken at board or shareholder meetings, or by written resolution where the constitution allows it. For each decision, the question to ask is the same: could the company show, years later, who decided what, on what information and on what date? Minutes and signed resolutions are the answer, and the registered agent of an Authorised Company is expected to keep them on file, alongside transaction records (Financial Services Act, s. 71A(8)).

Directors' conflicts and duties

Directors owe duties to the company, including the duty to declare interests in a transaction and to avoid dealing with the company on terms that favour them. These are individual obligations: a provider can administer the process, but it cannot discharge a director's duty.

Registers and the beneficial ownership record

Every Mauritian company keeps statutory registers: members, directors, charges and, separately, beneficial owners. They are working documents, not archive material, and they should change on the day the underlying fact changes. The statutory registers guide lists what each contains.

Beneficial ownership

Under section 91(3A) of the Companies Act 2001 (as updated at 15 May 2026), every Mauritian company must at all times identify its beneficial owner and, where applicable, any nominee, and record them in a separate register. The register holds:

• full name and residential address;
• national identity or passport number;
• nationality; and
• the holding structure identifying the ultimate beneficial owner.

A beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls the company, or on whose behalf a transaction is carried out, through direct or indirect shareholding at a prescribed percentage, voting rights, ownership interest or control by other means. Following Act 10 of 2024 (Government Gazette No. 77 of 25 July 2024), the definition no longer rests on the former test of 25% of voting rights that appeared in section 91. The company must ensure the register and any information required about beneficial owners is accurate, up to date and available without delay to competent authorities on request.

The Registrar of Companies also maintains a Beneficial Ownership Register, accessible to all competent authorities and to other prescribed public authorities. The Companies Act does not describe it as a public register.

For the practical questions, see the beneficial ownership register guide.

Accounts, audit and financial reporting

A company must keep proper accounting records, prepare annual financial statements and, unless an exemption applies, have them audited. Whether an exemption is available depends on the type of company and on conditions set in the law and, for licensed entities, by the FSC. The decision should be taken deliberately and early, before the year end, because an audit cannot be arranged after the fact in the same way as a filing.

The audit requirements page sets out who needs an audit, how an auditor is appointed and what the process involves. If the company is licensed by the FSC, audited accounts may also have to be filed with the Commission, which is a separate step from the registry filings.

Tax obligations

Tax compliance is where the company's category matters most. The points below are the headline rules; each depends on facts specific to the company.

What to read into the table

• Dividends. Dividends paid by a Mauritian resident company are exempt from income tax in the hands of the recipient, and no withholding tax is provided on them (Second Schedule, Part II, Sub-part B, item 1).
• Alternative Minimum Tax. It targets licensed hotels, insurers, financial intermediaries, property companies and telecommunications companies. It does not apply to a global business entity (a GBC or an Authorised Company) or to the exempt bodies in Part I of the Second Schedule.
• Fair Share Contribution. Under the Finance Act 2026, the turnover criterion was removed, so the test is taxable income above MUR 24 million in the financial year. Global business entities and the exempt bodies of Part I of the Second Schedule are excluded, as are companies benefiting from certain listed exemptions.
• QDMT. The Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax applies to members of a multinational group whose consolidated annual turnover reached EUR 750 million in at least two of the four preceding financial years, from the year of assessment starting 1 July 2025.
• VAT. The mandatory registration threshold is taxable supplies above MUR 3 million a year, applicable since 1 October 2025 (it was MUR 6 million before). Registration and returns are a separate topic from the rest of this page.

The CSR fund and the climate levy are explained in more detail in the CSR contribution guide and the tax guides linked from the MRA online filing walkthrough. Late or missing filings carry consequences, which are summarised in the penalties guide.

Payroll compliance

The moment a company employs someone, a second compliance stream begins, run monthly rather than yearly. It covers the employer's registration with the MRA, PAYE withholding, contributions to the Contribution Sociale Généralisée (CSG) and the National Savings Fund (NSF), payslips and the related returns. Employers also owe the employment-law basics, such as leave and end-of-contract rules.

Because payroll runs on short cycles, errors compound quickly: a wrong rate applied in January is repeated twelve times. The payroll overview explains how the pieces fit and which guide to open for each.

AML/CFT: the duties that reach every company

Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) is partly a duty of the company's service providers and partly a matter for the company itself.

Under the Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act (FIAMLA), a Company Service Provider is a reporting person, with the Registrar of Companies as its regulatory body. The Act also covers accountants, law firms, lawyers, notaries and estate agents, casinos regulated by the Gambling Regulatory Authority, and dealers in jewellery and precious metals.

For a company, the practical consequences are:

• Customer due diligence applies when an account or business relationship is opened. For an occasional customer, it applies from a transaction of Rs 500 000 or the foreign currency equivalent (or the prescribed amount), alone or in linked transactions, and to any domestic or cross-border wire transfer (FIAMLA, s. 17C).
• Your provider will ask for identification, ownership information and evidence of the source of funds. Answering fully and promptly is part of keeping the company in good standing.
• The registered agent of an Authorised Company handles AML/CFT measures, as well as filings, communications with the FSC, the MRA and the Registrar, and record keeping (Financial Services Act, s. 71A(8)).

The AML/CFT page covers the reporting officer, risk assessment, training and suspicious transaction reporting.

Changing provider without breaking continuity

A GBC must at all times be administered by an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence), and an Authorised Company must always have a Mauritian registered agent of the same kind. Since 1 August 2024 (Act 11 of 2024), an application to appoint a new provider must be accompanied by the fee set by the FSC Rules, and the same applies to a change of registered agent. Plan a change so that no filing deadline falls in the gap between the outgoing and incoming provider.

How the obligations fit together

The diagram below is a rough sorting tool, not a substitute for analysis. It shows which streams of obligations to look at first.

A working routine

Compliance becomes manageable when it follows a calendar rather than reminders. A sensible routine has three layers.

1. Fixed dates. Registry filings, FSC fees where applicable, tax returns and payments, and monthly payroll deadlines. The compliance calendar lists them by month.
2. Event-driven tasks. Appointing or removing a director, issuing shares, changing the registered office or the name, opening a bank account, hiring the first employee. Each triggers a filing, a register update or a due diligence step.
3. Annual review. A yearly check of registers against reality, of the beneficial ownership record, of the accounting position and of the services your provider delivers.

The annual compliance checklist turns the third layer into a list you can work through.

• Registers match the facts on the ground
• Beneficial ownership information is current
• Board decisions of the year are minuted and signed
• Accounts are prepared and the audit position is settled
• Tax filings and levies are reconciled
• Payroll returns are complete, if there are employees
• Provider and AML/CFT information requests are answered

Where to go next

If you need help working out which obligations apply to your company, you can send a request through the contact form; it is relayed to an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence), which can assess your situation. Nothing on this page replaces that analysis.