Company Limited by Shares LtdBahamas
What it takes to form, own and run a private limited company in Bahamas, and how its profit is taxed. Each figure links to the page it was read from.
This company type
At a glance
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two or more persons may incorporate a company with or without limited liability by signing a memorandum and submitting it to the Registrar
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Incorporation (capitalised up to $50,000) ....... $360.00
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The BLF is the main form of taxation on businesses, levied on gross turnover.
Form it
Who registers it
- Registry
- Formed without visiting
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Formed online
- Yes
What it takes to form
- A notary
- Not required
- A resident director
- Not required
- Paying up the capital
- A share may not be issued until it is fully or partly paid in money, or in property or past service that is the fair equivalent of the money (s.39(1)); no minimum paid-up proportion is stated.
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A share may not be issued until it is fully or partly paid
Own it
Who may own and run it
- Directors
- At least 2 · none need live there
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A company shall have at least two directors,
- Shareholders
- At least 2
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Subject to subsection (2), two or more persons
- Members
- At least 2
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may incorporate a company with or without limited liability
- A local company secretary
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- A local registered agent
- Not required
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at all times maintain a registered office in The Bahamas.
Each year, at the registry
- Annual registry fee
- BSD 350
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(a) at least 60% of its shares are beneficially owned by Bahamas ......................................................................... $350.00
- Accounts on the public record
- No
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Sections 118 to 123 shall not apply to private companies.
- Audit for a small company
- Not required
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shareholders of a private company may resolve not to
- Audit
- Auditor appointed yearly by members; at least ninety percent of the registered shareholders of a private company may resolve not to appoint an auditor.
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shareholders of a private company may resolve not to
Important dates
When each obligation falls due, as the authority states it.
- Annual list of members and summary of capital, completed within seven days after the fourt
- Not in our records
With Registrar General's Department
Not stated on laws.bahamas.gov.bs/cms/images/LEGISLATION/PRINCIPAL/1992/1992-0018/1992-0018_2.pdf when checked
What is public
- Shareholders
- Public
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by members of the company and any member of the general public upon payment of such fee as may be determined by the directors.
Tax
Tax on profit
How this company type is taxed, which can differ from its place’s headline rate.
No tax on profit · 0%+6 regimes
No corporate income tax is imposed on the company's profit on the pages read: the Ministry of Finance Green Paper describes the Business Licence Fee, levied on gross turnover, as the main form of taxation on businesses and the options for moving away from it to a corporate income tax. A Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax applies only to entities of multinational groups with EUR 750 million or more in revenue. Recorded as zero on that reading; no page states 'no tax on profit' in those words.
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The BLF is the main form of taxation on businesses, levied on gross turnover.
Work it out on a profit figure: the company’s tax, the owner’s, and what is left.
Special regimes that may apply
- Grand Bahama (Port Area) Investment Incentives Act (Chapter 261A) — concessions for investing in the Port Area free zone · 100% exempt
A licensee of the Grand Bahama Port Authority carrying on or intending to carry on business in the Port Area who owns developed land, owns less than five acres of undeveloped land, or is a non-Bahamian owning five acres or more, and is approved by the Minister on the Investment Board's recommendation Grand Bahama (Port Area) Investment Incentives Act (Chapter 261A), sections 3, 4 and 8 - Hotels Encouragement Act (Chapter 289) — concessions for new hotels other · 100% exempt
The promoter or owner of a new hotel, and the owner of an existing hotel, with whom the Minister enters an agreement; extended to entertainment facilities, nightclubs, restaurants and shops by Part II Hotels Encouragement Act (Chapter 289), section 4 (new hotels) and section 6 (existing hotels) - Industries Encouragement Act (Chapter 326) — relief for approved manufacturers other · 100% exempt
An approved manufacturer of an approved product Industries Encouragement Act (Chapter 326), section 13 - The Bahamas Investment Incentives Act (Chapter 328) — approved developer and licensee benefits in development zones free zone · 100% exempt
An approved developer of a development zone, and a licensee carrying on an approved enterprise in the zone The Bahamas Investment Incentives Act (Chapter 328), section 7 and the Third Schedule - International Business Companies Act (Chapter 309), section 187 — exemption from certain taxes free zone · 100% exempt
A company incorporated or continued under the Act, and its members and shareholders, provided no Bahamas resident within the Exchange Control Regulations Act is a beneficial or legal owner or has an interest in its securities International Business Companies Act (Chapter 309), section 187 - Business Development Incentives Programme Act, 2025 — incentive credits other
An eligible licensee: a holder of a licence under the Business Licence Act, 2023 carrying on a business with annual turnover greater than B$50 million, which is not already benefiting under the Family Islands, Hotels, Industries Encouragement, Tariff Act chapter 98 or Investment Incentives regimes Business Development Incentives Programme Act, 2025 (No. 49 of 2025), sections 2, 4 and 7
Whether a company qualifies depends on its activity and conditions set in each statute.
- CFC rules in Bahamas
- Not in our records
Close it
Closing it
The other end, which most guides leave out.
- Route
- Voluntary or compulsory winding up, then dissolution; articles of dissolution filed with the Registrar
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Filing of Articles of Dissolution .................................. $200.00
- Statutory fee
- BSD 200
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Filing of Articles of Dissolution .................................. $200.00
Every business in Bahamas
VAT
- Standard rate
- 10%
Standard rate 10%, zero rate 0% (Department of Inland Revenue). Its FAQ still shows a Customs example at 12% (the earlier rate); the About and rate answers on the same site and the 2024 Act reprint give 10%.
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Two rates of VAT are applied which is the standard rate of 10% and a zero rate of 0%.
- Other rates
- 0% Goods exported or supplied to customers abroad
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Conversely goods exported supplied to customers abroad are exempted or zero-rated.
- Registration threshold
- BSD 100,000
taxable activity turnover; any past or future 12 months of taxable activity
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You are required to register for and charge VAT under the VAT Act if your past or future 12 months of taxable activity exceeds the $100,000 threshold.
- Voluntary registration
- Yes
A business below the BSD 100,000 threshold may register voluntarily and then has all the obligations of a mandatory registrant; the Controller wants evidence of a fixed place of business, a taxable activity, proper records and willingness to file returns (Department of Inland Revenue FAQ).
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Yes, you can choose to register voluntarily. You will be required to fulfill all of the obligations of a Mandatory Registrant.
- A foreign company
- See the note
The VAT Act (reprint of 1 July 2024) s.19(1)(e) requires a person domiciled within or outside The Bahamas who provides telecommunication services or electronic commerce to persons for use in The Bahamas to register regardless of the registration threshold, within fourteen days of starting the activity (s.19(3)(c)). That rule covers those services only; the pages read state no rule for non-resident suppliers of goods or other services and no rule that a tax representative must be appointed.
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(e) is domiciled within or outside The Bahamas to the extent such person provides, either directly or through an agent, telecommunication services or electronic commerce to persons for use, enjoyment, benefit or advantage within The Bahamas, regardless of the registration threshold.
- Returns filed
- Depends on the business
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As at January 1, 2017 VAT returns must be filed online within 21 days of the end of each tax period.
- Tax authority
- Registration page read 2026-10-22
Payment and banking services
None of the services whose lists we hold names Bahamas. Each provider, and what a listing means.
Reference
Its name and code
- Kind
- Private limited companyDerived our grouping, the same words in every country
- Name in law
- Company Limited by Shares (Ltd)
- ISO 20275 code
- 98A8Secondary GLEIF, Entity Legal Forms code list