The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is a traditional tax-free 'offshore island' jurisdiction, located in the Caribbean Sea not far from the Eastern coastline of Florida, USA.
The Bahamas is an archipelago consisting of approximately 700 islands. The jurisdiction has a well-developed communications network and general infrastructure. Tourism, the financial sector and agricultural exports are the primary sources of income.
Bahamas companies were extensively used for international business purposes prior to 2001, when the 'easy' corporate compliance regime of the Bahamas was subjected to international pressure and subsequently introduced new compliance legislation leading to statutory disclosure of the identity of the beneficial owner/s of a Bahamas company.
Subsequently, many Bahamas-based companies have transferred their activities to other jurisdictions, although Bahamas companies remain relatively popular due to its long-established status and reputation as a tax-haven.
| GENERAL INFORMATION | Total area - 13,939 sq km
Population - 300,000
Location - click here to see the map of offshore jurisdictions
Political status - Independent Member of British Commonwealth.
Capital - Nassau
Official language - English
Official currency - Bahamian Dollar (BD)
Time zone - GMT - 5 |
| Company type | International Business Company (IBC) |
| Directors/Officers | Bahamas IBC companies require a minimum of 2 Directors, who may be natural persons or corporate bodies from any legal jurisdiction. There is no statutory requirement for a Company Secretary to be appointed.
Each Bahamas IBC company must file a Register of its Directors with the Register of Enterprises of the Bahamas. |
| Shareholders | Bahamas IBC companies require a minimum of 1 shareholder, who may be a natural person or a corporate body from any legal jurisdiction.
Each Bahamas IBC company must file a Register of its Shareholder/s with the Register of Enterprises of the Bahamas. |
| Authorised share capital | Standard authorised capital = USD 50,000.
There is no statutory requirement for capital to be fully or partly paid on incorporation. |
| Company Names | The name of a Bahamas IBC company must end with the words "Incorporated", "Corporation", "Limited", "Societe Anonyme" or other terms indicating Limited Liability, or suffixes such as "Inc.", "Corp.", "Ltd.", "GmbH", "S.A", etc.
Company names containing restricted words such as "Bank", "Insurance", "Trust", "University", "College" etc. will not be permitted unless an appropriate national operating licence has been obtained by the company. |
| Beneficial Ownership information | Information with regard to ultimate beneficial ownership must be disclosed to the Registered Agent of the company in the Bahamas and is held by the agent on a confidential basis. |
| Filing of Annual Return | There is no requirement to file an Annual Return. However, changes to Directors and/or Shareholder/s must be notified to the Register of Enterprises of the Bahamas by filing of amended Registers of Directors and Shareholders. |
| Filing of Financial Statement | There is no requirement to file Financial Statements in Bahamas for an IBC. |
| Corporate Taxation | Bahamas IBC companies are not subject to corporation tax in the Bahamas. |
| Tax Treaties | The Bahamas does not have treaties with any other jurisdictions dealing with the avoidance of double taxation. |
| Timeframe for incorporation | 6/7 working days. A complete set of company documents can be delivered in 4/5 weeks. |
| Takeover of management & secretarial services for an existing Bahamas IBC company | Possible, following verification of Beneficial Ownership and agreement with and discharge of liabilities to previous corporate service provider in Bahamas. |
| Description of incorporation documents | Click here for itemised description of company documents. |
| "Ready-made"("Shelf") companies | We are happy to register new company in this jurisdiction in accordance with client instructions. |
| Price of Bahamas IBC company | USD 2,780, including incorporation costs, full domiciliary (Registered Agent/Office) costs, Nominee services and legal support services for one year. |
| Cost of annual support services | USD 1,380 per year, including full domiciliary (Registered Agent/Office) costs, annual Government Duty, Nominee services and legal support services for each year. |
