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Mauritius looks small on the map, but from a structuring perspective, it punches far above its weight. It offers a mix of “onshore” and “offshore‑style” entity types, a solid legal system, and a growing push toward genuine substance and OECD‑aligned tax rules. It is the reason why investors, funds, and holding companies keep coming back to the question: What is the best entity type in Mauritius for a particular plan?
This is a well-researched, comprehensive guide providing information on the main entity types, their uses, how LLCs and PLCs fit into the picture, how branches and rep offices compare to full subsidiaries, and how the Mauritian tax profile ties it all together.
Mauritius sits in an interesting middle ground. It is not a classic secrecy jurisdiction anymore, but it still offers tax efficiency, treaty access in many cases, and relatively light administration compared to larger economies. The Companies Act 2001 and sectorspecific laws give you a handful of core options.
If you zoom out, most foreign investors seeking company registration in Mauritius are really choosing between four buckets:
Choose the right business structure in Mauritius with professional support for LLC, PLC, and branch office setup.
Here is an overview of the main options you have in terms of entity type in Mauritius:
A domestic company limited by shares is the “plain vanilla” corporate entity under Mauritian law.
Features:
This is the choice if Mauritius is your operating base and primary market rather than purely a holding jurisdiction.
The Global Business Company replaced the old GBC1 model and is now the flagship vehicle for international business conducted from Mauritius. It is highly recommended for individuals seeking global entrepreneurship in Mauritius.
A GBC is essentially:
GBCs are widely used for:
To qualify, a GBC must satisfy substance criteria, such as having local directors, Mauritian bank accounts, local expenditure commensurate with its activities, and board meetings held in Mauritius.
The Authorized Company regime replaced the former Global Business Company Category 2 (GBC2), on January 1, 2019.
This makes Authorized Companies a medium for specific holding or trading strategies where treaty access is irrelevant, and non‑residence is a feature, not a bug. The global minimum tax and substance push have also made investors more cautious about low‑substance non‑resident entity.
Mauritius also offers partnerships and limited partnerships, often used for funds and professional services.
Features
When in doubt, corporates still default to a company limited by shares rather than a partnership.
Set up your business in Mauritius with expert guidance on legal structure, registration, and regulatory compliance.
In Mauritius, many marketing and advisory material uses “LLC” and “PLC” loosely to signal limited liability and private‑company status, not as distinct statutory regimes, as they are in some other jurisdictions.
Under the Companies Act, both are built on the same fundamental building blocks. The practical differences are about:
For your guide, it helps to spell this out bluntly: the core legal and tax consequences in Mauritius flow from “domestic vs GBC vs Authorized vs branch” more than from the marketing label “LLC vs PLC”.
Given below is the breakdown of LLC vs PLC in Mauritius-
If your audience is comparing “LLC vs PLC in Mauritius” the way they might compare US LLC vs C‑Corp, the key message is that the Mauritian distinction is softer. The real questions are:
Once the group has a foreign parent company, the next Mauritius structuring decision is often not “LLC vs PLC”, but “branch vs subsidiary vs rep office”.
A Branch is the foreign company itself operating in Mauritius.
From a tax perspective, Mauritius will tax the income attributable to the branch’s Mauritian activity, often based on accounts and allocation principles.
A subsidiary is a locally incorporated company, usually a private company limited by shares, with the foreign parent as shareholder.
A representative office is a “no‑revenue” outpost of a foreign company.
The moment you want to run payroll locally, sign customer contracts, or book revenue onshore, you have outgrown a rep office.
Get professional advice on Mauritius entity types including LLC, PLC, and branch office for smooth company setup.
Here is the breakdown of Branch Vs subsidiary in Mauritius-
For your article, it is fair to say: If you are in Mauritius for the long haul and will have significant operations, a subsidiary is usually the safer and more scalable choice. A Branch or Rep office is fine for testing or very narrow use cases.
Tax is not the only reason to pick Mauritius, but it is a major one. The entity type and license choice drive your tax treatment and your ability to rely on treaties.
Mauritius historically built its proposition on a simple corporate rate and partial exemptions.
Headline features:
These partial exemptions replaced older credit mechanisms and are framed more tightly to align with international standards.
The same legal company form can sit in different tax profiles depending on how it is licensed and run.
As global minimum tax rules bite, especially through the 2025–26 budget measures, large multinational groups need to watch that they are not relying on old assumptions about very low effective rates that may be topped up elsewhere.
Recent budget proposals and the Finance Act 2025 pressured Mauritius to adopt a qualified domestic minimum top‑up tax for large groups, in line with the OECD Pillar Two rules.
For smaller and mid‑market structures, Mauritius can still deliver low effective rates where the income qualifies, and substance rules are met. For large MNEs, the conversation is shifting from arbitrage to predictability and alignment with group tax strategy.
When you tie the entity types, comparisons, and tax, picture together for your blog, a practical angle is to anchor recommendations by use case.
For example:
From there, your tables on LLC vs PLC and branch vs subsidiary give readers a quick way to translate strategy into structure without needing to wade through dense legal text.
Mauritius is a gem for business setup. However, to register your dream business there, you need to have a better knowledge of the entity types to make the right choice. Confused about which entity to choose for Mauritius company formation? Talk to our experts at Enterslice and get the best solutions at the lowest price.
Mauritius entity types include domestic companies limited by shares (often branded as LLCs or private limited companies), Global Business Companies (GBCs) for cross border activity, Authorized Companies for certain nonresident setups, and foreign company registrations such as branches and representative offices. Sole proprietorships, partnerships, and foundations exist, too, but they are less common in regional holding and HQ structures.
In Mauritius, “LLC” and “PLC” are mostly used as labels for limited liability companies rather than completely different statutory regimes. Both give owners limited liability and are formed under the Companies Act; the real distinction is that a PLC is the conventional private company limited by shares that banks and investors expect, whereas an LLC label is sometimes used for more internally flexible, closely held structures. For most cross border work, the bigger decision is whether the company is domestic, a GBC, or an Authorized Company.
A GBC makes sense when the core activities and clients are outside Mauritius, you are willing to build real substance on the island, and you want access (where available) to the Mauritius tax treaty network and partial exemptions on qualifying income. A domestic company is usually better if you are selling mainly to Mauritian residents, hiring a local team, and using Mauritius as a straightforward onshore base rather than a holding or finance hub.
An Authorized Company is incorporated in Mauritius but managed and controlled from abroad, so for tax purposes it is treated as nonresident in Mauritius. It is typically used for niche cases where treaty access is not required and where keeping tax residence outside Mauritius is desirable. Because it is nonresident and subject to activity limits, it is not the default choice for most investors who want substance and a stable treaty platform.
The headline corporate income tax rate in Mauritius is generally the same for resident companies, but the effective rate can differ depending on whether the entity is a domestic company or a GBC and on whether its income qualifies for partial exemptions. A well structured GBC with qualifying income and real substance may achieve a reduced effective rate, while domestic companies often pay closer to the headline rate except where specific incentives apply. Authorized Companies are typically taxed where they are tax resident, not in Mauritius, because they are treated as nonresident locally.
A branch is cheaper to set up initially and keeps everything under the foreign parent’s balance sheet, which can simplify group control in the short term. The tradeoff is that the parent remains fully liable for Mauritian operations, treaty and tax residence questions can be trickier, and some regulators, banks, and counterparties are less comfortable with a branch than with a local company. Branches tend to work best for limited scope or timebound operations where the parent accepts the direct risk.
A subsidiary is a separate legal entity that ringfences liability at the Mauritius level, is easier to position as clearly resident or clearly licensed (for example, as a GBC), and generally fits better with banking, licensing, and investor expectations. It also makes it simpler to sell or reorganize the Mauritius operation later, since you can transfer the shares in the subsidiary rather than restructuring the parent. The price you pay is slightly higher for setup and ongoing compliance, but for most medium to long term plays, the tradeoff is worth it.
A representative office is a very light touch presence for a foreign company that wants to do market research, marketing, or liaison work in Mauritius without generating revenue. It cannot sign commercial contracts in its own name, invoice clients, or perform full scale operations, and in regulated sectors (such as banking), it is subject to specific guidelines that reinforce this noncommercial status. It is a good option for testing the market, but not for running a real business.
If you want a GBC with access to treaty benefits and partial exemptions, you have to accept substance requirements such as Mauritian resident directors, local board meetings, and meaningful local expenditure. If you do not want or cannot justify that substance, you either use a more straightforward domestic company focused on local operations or a nonresident structure like an Authorized Company for very specific cases. In other words, substance expectations often decide whether a “global” Mauritius entity is realistic or whether you should stay onshore or nonresident.
For a regional HQ or holding platform that will have real management in Mauritius and aims to use Mauritius’ network and reputation, a private company limited by shares (PLCstyle) configured as a Global Business Company is usually the starting point. If the operation is smaller and mostly local, a domestic PLC or LLC will be simpler and still fully compliant. Branches and rep offices are better viewed as temporary or narrow use tools rather than long term homes for a serious regional HQ.
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