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Mauritius: GBC, Authorised Company, or nothing at all

This lesson is for you if an investor has mentioned a Mauritian holding, or if you already have one. If your business and your investors are in Madagascar and nobody has raised Mauritius, you can leave it for later.

KWritten by the KAPEX team from the conditions of the Mauritian Financial Services Act as published by the Financial Services Commission, and from fees advertised by management companies in 2026; these rules change often, so check them with your management company before deciding. Updated 13 October 2026.

Three vehicles

“Why Mauritius?”: the question comes before the raise

A foreign investor will ask you, or will suggest a Mauritian holding themselves. Many projects in the region go through Mauritius. The country has a wide network of tax treaties (agreements between two countries so that income is not taxed twice). It also offers a readable company law and banks connected to international correspondents. There are three possible vehicles. They do not give the same rights and do not ask for the same work.

GBClicensed by the FSC
  • Tax resident in Mauritius
  • 15% headline, around 3% effective on eligible income
  • Treaty access, conditional on substance
  • Audited accounts mandatory, for the GBC itself
What you get: the treaty network, provided you keep to the rules all year.
Authorised Companymanaged from abroad
  • Not tax resident in Mauritius
  • Taxed where effective management sits
  • No access to Mauritian treaties
  • Audit not mandatory
What you get: a simple company, without the treaty network.
Domestic companyordinary law
  • Tax resident in Mauritius
  • 15%
  • Treaty access
  • Audit above thresholds
What you get: access to the Mauritian market itself.

Regimes as described publicly in 2026. The effective rate depends on the type of income and the attached conditions; the figure is indicative.

The choice turns first on a fact: will you have a real activity in Mauritius, or only an address? The partial exemption brings the rate down to around 3%. Like treaty access, it depends on what the company actually does there (its substance). A GBC with no activity loses the very thing it was set up for.

Do you need a Mauritian structure?Your turn

Four questions to find out whether a Mauritian structure is any use to you

Answer for your project as it stands today, not as it will be in three years. Each final answer says what the choice involves.

Do you need a structure in Mauritius?

Question 1

Are your investors, or the ones you are aiming for, based outside Madagascar?

See the whole tree

Are your investors, or the ones you are aiming for, based outside Madagascar?

  • Yes

    Are you counting on a Mauritian tax treaty for the dividends or capital gain your investors will one day receive?

    • Yes

      Can you meet the conditions from the first year: two resident directors, board meetings in Mauritius, the main bank account there, local spending?

      • Yes

        Can the project carry around 15,000 dollars a year, every year, even before the business brings money in?

        • YesA GBC
        • NoA GBC, but not yet
      • NoNo GBC for now
    • NoAn Authorised Company may be enough
  • NoNo Mauritian structure

Tree built only from the criteria in this lesson: where the investors are, treaty use, substance, cost (fees published in 2026). It prepares the conversation with a management company and a tax adviser; it does not replace it.

The third vehicle in the table, the domestic company, does not appear in the tree. It is for selling or producing in Mauritius itself, which is a different question from the holding.

  1. What the law requires
  2. What you will show each year
  3. The holding and the business
  4. What it costs to hold
  5. What the investor checks
  6. What substance does not buy
  7. In your file

The rest of the lesson

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7 more parts, with the calculations on your own numbers and what to write in your file. The account is free, no commitment.

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The words of this lesson

Each word links to its full definition in the glossary.

GBC
A licensed Mauritian company that works mainly outside Mauritius and must prove it has a real presence there.
Management company
In Mauritius, the licensed provider that sets up, runs and keeps the records of a licensed company.
Substance
Proof that a company really lives where it is registered: local directors, a bank account, spending, meetings.
Partial exemption
In Mauritius, a tax cut on some of a company’s income, provided it has real activity on the island.
Tax treaty
An agreement between two countries so the same income is not taxed twice, often lowering the tax on dividends.
Audited accounts
Accounts an independent professional has checked and signed an opinion on.

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