What Is a Foundation in Mauritius?

If you are asking what is a foundation in Mauritius, the short answer is this: it is a separate legal entity, set up by a founder, that holds assets for a defined purpose or for named beneficiaries. The Mauritius foundation is governed by the Foundations Act and has its own legal personality. That single feature is what sets it apart, in nature, from a trust.

This page explains what the foundation is, who is involved, how it differs from a trust and what the law says about its tax and record-keeping. It is general information and not advice; whether a foundation suits a given family depends on their circumstances.

A foundation is a legal person

Under article 5 of the Foundations Act 2012, a foundation acquires legal personality only once it is registered with the Registrar (the Registrar of Companies, who also acts as Registrar of Foundations) and holds a certificate of registration. Before that, there is no foundation in the legal sense.

Once registered, the foundation can hold property in its own name, enter into contracts and be a party to proceedings. The assets belong to the foundation, not to the founder and not to the council members who manage them. The Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2002 (FIAMLA) confirms the point in its own way: its definition of "legal person" expressly includes the Foundation.

The Foundations Act 2012 (Act No. 8 of 2012) came into force on 1 July 2012. The consolidated text published by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) reflects amendments only up to 14 May 2015, so readers should check for later changes.

How a foundation differs in nature from a trust

The two structures are often grouped together because both hold wealth for the benefit of others. Legally they work in different ways.

A trust is a relationship. The settlor transfers assets to a trustee, who holds them for beneficiaries or for a purpose. The trust itself is not a person; the trustee holds title. Under the Trusts Act 2001, at least one trustee must be a "qualified trustee", meaning an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence) or another Mauritius-resident person authorised by the FSC to provide trustee services.

A foundation is an entity. It owns its assets and acts through a council. No one holds the assets "on trust" for it.

For a fuller side-by-side reading, see trust vs foundation. The trust side of the story is covered in what is a trust.

Who is involved

The founder

The founder creates the foundation and endows it. The Foundations Act 2012 allows the founder to be a beneficiary. It also provides that a transfer made by a non-citizen founder cannot be set aside under the succession rules of that person's domicile or nationality. How far a founder can stay involved is covered in founder powers.

The council

The council is the governing body. Article 17 requires at least one member who is ordinarily resident in Mauritius. The following cannot serve: minors, bankrupts, people convicted of fraud or dishonesty, and officers of the foundation or their close family. The duties and powers of members are set out in the foundation council.

The secretary

Article 13 requires every foundation to have a secretary. The secretary must be an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence) or another Mauritius-resident person authorised by the FSC. This gives the Registrar and the regulator a local, licensed point of contact.

Beneficiaries and purposes

Articles 3 and 4 allow a foundation to pursue charitable or non-charitable objects, for the benefit of a person, a class of persons or a specific purpose. A foundation can therefore hold family wealth, but it can also exist for a purpose with no individual beneficiary. The Trusts Act reaches a similar result through the purpose trust, which needs an enforcer and a qualified trustee. The foundation does it through its own governance.

The charter and the Articles

A foundation's constitution is its charter. Under article 8, the charter states, among other things:

• the name of the foundation;
• the founder and an address for notices in Mauritius;
• the purposes and objects;
• the initial assets endowed;
• the beneficiary, or the way beneficiaries are identified.

If the charter allows it, the council may adopt additional Articles, signed by each council member (article 10). The charter is the public-facing document. The Articles are a convenient place for operating detail. What belongs in each is discussed in charter and rules.

Registration in outline

This page does not walk through setting up a foundation. In outline, the application goes to the Registrar on the approved form (article 23). It includes the list of first officers, a statement from a law practitioner, legal consultant or firm confirming that the foundation complies with the Act, and a declaration by the applicant that the information is accurate, together with the scheduled fees.

The Corporate and Business Registration Department's customer charter describes a foundation as one registered under the Act since 1 July 2012, with a charitable purpose, a non-charitable purpose or both, and with a secretary and a council. It indicates that registration takes half a day to one day.

On cost, the Registrar's guide of 4 April 2025 lists a registration fee of MUR 9 100 for a foundation. The annual fee notice for 2025 sets the yearly charge at Rs 9 000 if paid between 3 and 20 January 2025, and Rs 13 000 after the deadline. Fees are amended from time to time, so confirm the current figure with the Registrar.

Records and transparency

A foundation is not a secret vehicle. Under articles 36 and 37, it keeps accounts of its income, expenses, distributions, purchases, sales, assets and liabilities. At its registered office it also holds:

• copies of the documents filed (the charter and any Articles);
• the minutes of council meetings;
• a register of council members, founders and persons who have endowed the foundation.

These records can be inspected by the founder, the officers, the Registrar and the FSC.

Beneficial ownership rules also apply. Because FIAMLA treats the Foundation as a legal person and names the Registrar of Foundations among the relevant authorities, the beneficial-ownership transparency obligations apply to it.

Tax: the basic rule and what changed

Article 49A of the Income Tax Act makes every foundation liable on its taxable income at the rate in Part IV of the First Schedule, which is 15%. A distribution to a beneficiary is treated as a dividend.

There used to be an exemption for a foundation whose founder and beneficiaries were all non-resident (or held a Global Business Licence), on filing a declaration of non-residence. The Finance Act 2021 repealed paragraphs 49A(2) and (3), with deemed effect from 1 July 2021. Older articles that mention that exemption describe the position before that date.

Charitable bodies are treated separately: Part I of the Second Schedule lists charitable institutions, charitable foundations and charitable trusts among exempt bodies. Whether a particular foundation qualifies is a question for a tax adviser. For the full picture, see how foundations are taxed.

Succession and forced heirship

Because a foundation is a separate person, assets endowed to it are no longer part of the founder's estate in the ordinary way. The Act protects a non-citizen founder's transfer from being undone under the succession law of their domicile or nationality. That does not mean every claim disappears: courts can look at sham arrangements, and the position of Mauritian citizens and Mauritian immovable property needs separate analysis. The detailed discussion is in do foundations escape forced heirship.

When people look at a foundation

Families tend to compare a foundation with a trust when they want one of the following:

• a structure with its own legal personality, which can contract and hold property directly;
• governance by a council rather than reliance on a single trustee;
• a vehicle for a purpose as well as, or instead of, named beneficiaries;
• a civil-law-style entity that looks familiar to people from jurisdictions without trust law.

None of these is a reason on its own. A trust may fit better where a family prefers a long-established common-law mechanism with flexible reserved roles such as the protector. A decision tree can help frame the first question.