Sole Proprietor (business name registration)Bahamas
What it takes to form, own and run a sole trader 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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Every firm, individual or corporation required under this Act to be registered shall furnish to the Registrar together with the prescribed fee a statement in writing in the prescribed form containing the following particulars
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
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Since no form of personal income tax exists in The Bahamas, there is a potential risk for some owner managed businesses to minimise their CIT liability
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
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
What it takes to form
- A notary
- Not required
- A resident director
- Does not apply
- Paying up the capital
- Not applicable in the usual sense: no capital is registered or paid in; the registration statement carries only the s.5(1) particulars.
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Every firm, individual or corporation required under this Act to be registered shall furnish to the Registrar together with the prescribed fee a statement in writing in the prescribed form containing the following particulars
Own it
Who may own and run it
- Directors
- Does not apply
- Shareholders
- Does not apply
- Members
- At least 1 · at most 1 · one person may form it alone
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(b) every individual having a place of business in
- A local company secretary
- Does not apply
- A local registered agent
- Does not apply
Each year, at the registry
- Annual registry fee
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Accounts on the public record
- No
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Every firm, individual or corporation required under this Act to be registered shall furnish to the Registrar together with the prescribed fee a statement in writing in the prescribed form containing the following particulars
- Audit for a small company
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Audit
- Not in our records
Important dates
When each obligation falls due, as the authority states it.
- Furnish registered particulars within fourteen days of a change
- 14 days after change of officers
With Registrar General's Department
Section 8 Registration of Business Names Act: any change in registered particulars of the firm, individual or corporation.
What is public
- Shareholders
- Public
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Any person may inspect the documents filed
Tax
Tax on profit
How this company type is taxed, which can differ from its place’s headline rate.
No tax on profit · 0%+3 regimes
No personal income tax exists in The Bahamas (Ministry of Finance Green Paper on Corporate Income Tax), and the same paper speaks of the absence of a corporate income tax; the Business Licence Fee is levied on gross turnover rather than profit, so no tax is charged on the owner's profit.
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Since no form of personal income tax exists in The Bahamas, there is a potential risk for some owner managed businesses to minimise their CIT liability
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 - 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
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
- The business or the persons who were its partners give the Registrar notice in the prescribed form within three months of ceasing to carry on business (s.14(1)); the Registrar may then remove the name from the register (s.14(2)), and may do so on his own notice if no answer is received within a month (s.14(3)-(4)).
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to deliver to the Registrar notice in the prescribed form that the firm, individual or corporation has ceased to carry on business
- Statutory fee
- Not in our records
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
- Sole traderDerived our grouping, the same words in every country
- Name in law
- Sole Proprietor (business name registration)
- ISO 20275 code
- XDKSSecondary GLEIF, Entity Legal Forms code list