Where can I find the full text of the Mauritius Trusts Act?

The Mauritius Trusts Act 2001 (as amended) is available on the Mauritius Attorney-General's Office website (attorney-general.govmu.org) and through legal database services. Your legal adviser in Mauritius can provide the current consolidated version.

Is there a definitive list of Mauritius's double tax treaties?

Yes — the Mauritius Revenue Authority (mra.mu) maintains a current list of double tax treaties in force. As of early 2026, Mauritius has treaties with over 45 countries across Africa, Asia and Europe. New treaties are periodically concluded and existing treaties are periodically updated.

What is the difference between CRS and FATCA?

Both CRS and FATCA relate to the automatic exchange of financial account information between tax authorities. FATCA is US-specific legislation requiring foreign financial institutions to report US person account holders to the IRS. CRS is the OECD's multilateral equivalent, applicable to all participating jurisdictions. Mauritius participates in both. The key practical difference is that FATCA involves reporting to the US and requires specific US self-certification forms; CRS involves reporting to each account holder's country of tax residency.

Knowledge Centre

Glossary of Key Terms

Plain-language definitions of the legal, regulatory and technical terms most commonly encountered when structuring wealth, trusts, foundations and companies in Mauritius.

طلب تقييم سري

The world of international wealth structuring, trust law and corporate governance involves a specialised vocabulary that can be unfamiliar even to sophisticated clients. This glossary provides clear, practical definitions of the terms most frequently encountered when working with Mauritius structures — from the basic building blocks of a trust to the regulatory frameworks that govern how Mauritius companies are administered. Terms are arranged alphabetically.

Anti-Bartlett Clause: A provision in a trust deed that excludes the trustee's general duty — derived from the English case Bartlett v Barclays Bank — to supervise and intervene in the management of companies wholly owned by the trust. An anti-Bartlett clause is commonly included where the trust holds a trading company, to allow the company's directors to manage it without the trustee being required (or entitled) to interfere in day-to-day management decisions.
Authorised Company (AC): A lighter-touch corporate vehicle available under Mauritius law. An AC is a company incorporated in Mauritius but treated as tax resident in the jurisdiction of its beneficial owners — it is not tax resident in Mauritius and cannot access Mauritius's double tax treaties or the partial exemption regime. ACs are used where the client needs a Mauritius-incorporated entity but does not require treaty benefits or GBC tax status. They have lower compliance costs but fewer tax advantages than a GBC.
Bank of Mauritius (BOM): The central bank of Mauritius, responsible for monetary policy, financial stability and the regulation and supervision of banks and deposit-taking institutions. The BOM holds banking licences and maintains oversight of the banking sector, while the Financial Services Commission (FSC) regulates non-bank financial services.
Beneficial Owner (UBO): The natural person(s) who ultimately owns or controls an entity or arrangement — the real human being behind a corporate or trust structure. Under FIAMLA and FSC regulations, all licensed service providers must identify and verify the beneficial owners of their client structures. The standard threshold is any individual owning or controlling 25% or more of shares or voting rights, though in practice a more conservative approach is often applied.
Beneficiary: A person (or class of persons) who is entitled to benefit from a trust or foundation. In a discretionary trust, beneficiaries do not have a fixed entitlement — the trustee exercises discretion over whether, when and how much to distribute to each beneficiary. In a fixed trust, each beneficiary's entitlement is defined in the trust deed. Beneficiaries may be named individuals, defined by a relationship to the settlor (e.g. 'the children and grandchildren of X'), or defined by reference to some other class.
CRS (Common Reporting Standard): The OECD's multilateral framework for the automatic exchange of financial account information between tax authorities. Under CRS, financial institutions (including banks, trust companies and investment entities) in participating jurisdictions must identify the tax residency of their account holders and report account information to their local tax authority, which then exchanges the information with the account holders' home jurisdictions. Mauritius is a CRS-participating jurisdiction. CRS is the global standard; FATCA is the US-specific equivalent.
Discretionary Trust: A trust in which the trustee has discretion over whether, when and to whom to distribute trust assets or income among the beneficiary class. No individual beneficiary has a fixed entitlement — the trustee must exercise its discretion in good faith in accordance with the trust deed and any letter of wishes provided by the settlor. A discretionary trust provides maximum flexibility for succession planning and can adapt to changing family circumstances over time.
Economic Substance: The requirement — under Mauritius law and OECD BEPS standards — that companies benefiting from preferential tax treatment must conduct genuine core income-generating activities (CIGAs) in the jurisdiction providing the tax benefit. For Mauritius GBCs, economic substance requires adequate employees, expenditure, physical presence and management decisions to be in Mauritius, commensurate with the type of business activity. Failure to meet economic substance requirements results in loss of the partial exemption and possible automatic exchange of information with the company owner's home tax authority.
Enforcer: A role that may be created under a purpose trust deed. An enforcer has the right (and usually the duty) to enforce the terms of a purpose trust — to ensure the trustee carries out the trust's purpose. This is needed because purpose trusts have no beneficiaries with standing to enforce the trust, so the enforcer fills this role. Enforcers are more common in STAR trusts (Cayman Islands) or similar structures; the Mauritius Trusts Act provides for the appointment of a protector who may also have enforcement powers.
FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act): US legislation requiring foreign financial institutions to report information about accounts held by US persons to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Mauritius has signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the United States for FATCA compliance. Any Mauritius structure involving US persons (US citizens or US tax residents) has significant FATCA implications, including reporting obligations and potential withholding tax exposure. US persons should always obtain specialist US tax advice before establishing any offshore structure.
FIAMLA: The Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act — the primary Mauritius legislation governing anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-financing of terrorism (CFT) obligations. FIAMLA imposes due diligence obligations on all regulated financial service providers in Mauritius, including management companies, trustees and banks. It requires customer due diligence (CDD), ongoing monitoring, suspicious transaction reporting and record-keeping. Mauritius is a member of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) and the Egmont Group.
Fixed Trust: A trust in which each beneficiary's interest is defined and fixed in the trust deed — for example, 'half to A and half to B'. The trustee has no discretion over who benefits or in what proportion. Fixed trusts are less common for family succession planning than discretionary trusts, but may be appropriate where the settlor wants certainty of outcome rather than flexibility.
Foundation: A legal entity with its own personality, established by a founder under the Foundations Act 2012 to hold assets for the benefit of beneficiaries or to pursue a defined purpose. Unlike a trust, the foundation owns its own assets. It is governed by a council (equivalent to a board of directors). Foundations are particularly popular with clients from civil law jurisdictions (France, Germany, Latin America) who find the entity-based structure more familiar than the trust. The Foundations Act provides strong asset protection and forced heirship mitigation.
Forced Heirship: A rule found in many civil law jurisdictions (and some common law jurisdictions) that reserves a mandatory portion of a deceased's estate for certain heirs — typically children and/or spouses — regardless of the terms of a will. Forced heirship rules are a significant concern for international succession planning. The Mauritius Trusts Act and Foundations Act both contain provisions specifically designed to protect Mauritius trust and foundation assets from foreign forced heirship claims, subject to applicable limitation periods and public policy considerations.
FSC (Financial Services Commission): The Financial Services Commission is Mauritius's integrated financial services regulator, responsible for the licensing and supervision of non-bank financial services including: management companies, trustees, investment advisers, investment dealers, collective investment schemes, insurance companies and pension funds. The FSC issues the Global Business Licence (GBL) required for GBC companies and the Trustee Licence required for professional trustees. The FSC is the primary regulatory interlocutor for the corporate and trust services sector.
GBC (Global Business Company): A company incorporated in Mauritius and licensed by the Financial Services Commission to conduct business primarily outside Mauritius. A GBC is tax resident in Mauritius and can benefit from Mauritius's double tax treaties and the 80% partial exemption regime (giving an effective corporate tax rate of approximately 3% on qualifying income). GBCs must meet economic substance requirements and are administered by a licensed management company. They are the standard vehicle for international holding, investment and business activities in Mauritius.
Hague Convention on Trusts: The Convention on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition, adopted at the Hague in 1985. Mauritius is a signatory. The Convention provides that signatory states will recognise trusts governed by the law of another signatory state, making Mauritius trusts internationally portable and enforceable in convention countries. This is particularly important for clients from civil law jurisdictions where the trust concept does not exist domestically.
Letter of Wishes: A non-legally-binding letter from a settlor (or founder) to the trustee (or council) expressing the settlor's wishes regarding how the trust or foundation should be administered, how assets should be invested and how distributions should be made. A letter of wishes is not legally enforceable — the trustee retains full discretion — but a well-drafted letter provides invaluable guidance and moral authority. The letter can be updated at any time without amending the trust deed, making it a flexible tool for expressing changing family circumstances and priorities.
Management Company: A company licensed by the FSC to provide corporate management services to GBCs and other regulated entities. A management company provides registered office services, company secretarial services, resident directors, compliance support and banking assistance to its GBC clients. Every GBC must be administered by a licensed management company in Mauritius. The management company is also responsible for the GBC's KYC/AML compliance at the entity level. Corporate & Trust Mauritius is operated by Sunibel, a licensed management company.
Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA): The tax authority of Mauritius, responsible for the assessment and collection of income tax, VAT and other taxes. The MRA administers the Income Tax Act and receives annual tax returns from GBCs and other taxable entities. GBCs claiming the 80% partial exemption must file an economic substance declaration as part of their annual tax return. The MRA participates in the OECD's automatic exchange of information (AEOI) framework, including CRS and FATCA.
Partial Exemption (80% Partial Exemption Regime): A Mauritius Income Tax Act provision that exempts 80% of certain categories of income earned by a GBC from corporate tax. The result is that the effective corporate tax rate on qualifying income is reduced from 15% to approximately 3%. Qualifying income categories include: dividends, interests, royalties, gains on disposal of securities, and certain other income from foreign sources. To benefit from the partial exemption, the GBC must meet the economic substance requirements applicable to its category of activity.
Private Trust Company (PTC): A company established specifically to act as trustee of the trusts of a single family, rather than acting as trustee for multiple client families. A PTC is exempt from the FSC Trustee Licence requirement (for its role as trustee of the family's own trusts) but must be administered by a licensed management company in Mauritius. PTCs allow family members and trusted advisers to sit on the board and participate in trustee decisions, giving the family more governance involvement than would be possible with a fully independent professional trustee.
Probate: The legal process by which a deceased person's will is validated and their estate is distributed under court supervision. In most jurisdictions, assets held personally by the deceased must go through probate — a potentially lengthy, costly and public process. Assets held in a properly established trust or foundation typically bypass probate entirely, as legal ownership has already been transferred to the trustee or foundation. This is one of the primary practical advantages of trust or foundation structures for succession planning.
Protector: An individual or entity appointed under a trust deed with powers to oversee the trustee. Common protector powers include: the power to appoint or remove the trustee; consent rights over major trustee decisions (distributions, investments, amendments to the trust deed); the power to add or remove beneficiaries; and the right to receive accounts and information from the trustee. The protector is typically a trusted adviser or family friend — not a beneficiary. A well-designed protector arrangement allows the settlor's family or advisers to maintain oversight of the trustee without the settlor retaining control (which could invalidate the trust).
Settlor: The person who establishes a trust — who transfers assets to the trustee and declares the trust, setting out the terms on which the trustee will hold those assets. The settlor's role is typically completed upon settlement, though in practice the settlor often provides an ongoing letter of wishes and may be appointed as protector. Under most jurisdictions' laws, a settlor who retains excessive control over the trust assets risks having the trust disregarded for tax or succession purposes — this is known as a 'sham trust' or 'settlor-interested trust' depending on the jurisdiction.
Spendthrift Clause: A provision in a trust deed that prevents beneficiaries from assigning or pledging their interest in the trust, and prevents the trustee from making distributions to creditors of a beneficiary. A spendthrift clause protects trust assets from being reached by a beneficiary's creditors — for example, in the event of a beneficiary's bankruptcy or divorce. This is a common provision in family discretionary trusts and is specifically recognised under the Mauritius Trusts Act.
Trustee: The legal owner of trust assets — the party who holds title to the assets on behalf of the beneficiaries and who is responsible for managing those assets in accordance with the trust deed and the general law of trusts. A trustee has wide fiduciary duties: to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries, to exercise reasonable care and skill, to avoid conflicts of interest and to act in accordance with the trust deed. In Mauritius, a professional trustee must hold a Trustee Licence issued by the FSC.
Trust Deed: The founding document of a trust — the legal instrument that establishes the trust, identifies the settlor, trustee and beneficiaries (or purpose), and sets out the terms on which the trustee holds and manages the trust assets. The trust deed is the primary governance document and its drafting is critical to the effectiveness of the structure. It typically includes: the powers of the trustee, distribution provisions, provisions for appointment and removal of the trustee and protector, and miscellaneous governing provisions. The trust deed is a confidential document in Mauritius.
Treaty Network (Double Tax Treaties): Mauritius has negotiated double tax avoidance treaties with over 45 countries, including major African economies (South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Botswana, Namibia, Uganda, Tunisia), Asian economies (India, China, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia), European countries and others. These treaties typically reduce withholding taxes on dividends, interest and royalties paid from treaty-partner countries to Mauritius entities, and allocate taxing rights to avoid double taxation. Access to treaty benefits requires the GBC to be tax resident in Mauritius — which requires meeting economic substance requirements.
Trustee Licence: A licence issued by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) authorising a company to act as a professional trustee in Mauritius. Trustee Licences are granted to management companies or specialist trust companies that have demonstrated: adequate capital, qualified staff, robust AML/CFT policies and procedures, and fit-and-proper status for all key persons. A licensed trustee is subject to ongoing FSC supervision and inspection. Private Trust Companies acting only for a single family's trusts are exempt from the licensing requirement but must be administered by a licensed management company.
BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting): The OECD's project to address tax planning strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to shift profits to low or no-tax jurisdictions. The BEPS Action Plan resulted in minimum standards and recommendations adopted by over 135 countries. Mauritius has committed to implementing the BEPS minimum standards, including the economic substance requirements, country-by-country reporting (CbCR), and the Multilateral Instrument (MLI) amending its double tax treaties to include anti-abuse provisions. BEPS compliance is now a standard part of GBC structuring and advice.

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