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Situated in the Caribbean east of Florida, the Bahamas is a British Commonwealth member.
The
official language is English and the local currency is the Bahamian dollar,
which is held at par with the US dollar.
The
International Business Companies (IBC) Act 1989 established the Bahamas as a
tax-free jurisdiction for such companies provided that they neither do business
with residents of the islands, nor own property in the Bahamas.IBCs may carry out most business purposes
with the following exceptions, for any of which a special licence must be
obtained:
-Accepting banking
deposits;
-Accepting contracts of
insurance or reinsurance;
-Carrying out trust
business.
The
1989 legislation has been updated by the International Business Companies
(Amendment) Act of 1994, the International Business Companies Act of 2001 and
the International Business Companies (Amendment) Act of 2004.
The
legislation covers the following main points:
Capital
-There are no minimum
or maximum capital requirements.
-Both par and no par
value shares are allowed.
-Companies must have
at least two shareholders.
-Bearer shares are no
longer permitted.
-Annual general
meetings of the shareholders need not be held.
Officers
-The minimum number of
directors is one.
-Corporate directors
are permitted.
-Directors can be
non-resident.
-Meetings may be held
anywhere in the world and by telephone.
-There is no annual return-filing requirement.
Accounts
-The preparation and
filing of annual financial statements is not required.
Incorporation
-Incorporation can
usually be done in one day.
-Shelf companies are
available.
-All companies must
appoint a Bahamian resident agent and have a registered office address in
the Bahamas.
-The Bahamian authorities did not require disclosure of the beneficial owner, directors or officers but since the 2001 Act, IBC’s are required to submit the identities, addresses and names of directors and owners to the Registrar General’s Department.
-Company names in any language are permitted.
-Bahamian IBCs must have one of the following words in their name: “Limited”,“ Corporation”, “Société Anonyme”, “Sociedad Anonima” or the abbreviation “Ltd”, “Corp”, “Inc”, or “S.A.” or certain other words denoting limited liability.
-Certain words either may not be included in a company name or are subject to restrictions.Amongst these are: “Assurance”, “Bank”,“Building Society”,
“Municipal”, “Royal”, “Trust”, “Trust Company”,“Real Estate”, “Broker”,
“Securities”, “Financial”, “Finance”, or a word conveying a similar meaning.
Taxation
-Statutory
incorporation and annual government fees are currently fixed as follows :
(i) US$900 and US$100 for
authorised capital up to US$5,000
(ii) US$1,100 and US$300 from
US$5,001 to US$50,000
(iii) US$1,500 and US$1,000 for over US$50,000.
This aside there is no other taxation for corporations.
There are stamp duties and some property taxes.
-The Bahamas does not have double taxation treaties with other countries.
-There are no exchange
controls.
Useful links : Bahamas Government - http://www.bahamas.gov.bs
Please contact us for further information
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