# Bahamas

 Country code: BS · Currency: BSD · Language: English

**Pros**
- Absence of personal income, corporate, capital gains, and inheritance taxes for residents.
- Strategic proximity to North American markets combined with a robust offshore financial services framework.
- High degree of personal freedom and a desirable tropical lifestyle for international entrepreneurs.

**Cons**
- Elevated operational costs driven by expensive utility services and heavy reliance on imported goods.
- Bureaucratic inefficiencies and slow administrative processes within government departments and licensing agencies.
- Persistent security concerns regarding violent crime rates in specific urban neighborhoods of Nassau.

Long story short: In the Bahamas, the state will never touch a cent of your income, capital gains or company profits: zero tax, full stop.

The catch: opening a bank account or getting your business license takes months, and without the right local connections you get sent in circles. Cost of living in Nassau stings hard, everything's imported and taxed on the way in.

Other than that: Lyford Cay and Old Fort Bay stay calm and safe, the conch and fresh fish are excellent, the turquoise beaches are worth the trip, and power cuts remain common even in the nicer neighborhoods.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Bahamas** doesn't tax personal income, and nobody comes sniffing around when you settle in. No withholding, no tax return, no centre-of-vital-interests trap waiting to snap shut.

Earn what you want: the taxman here simply doesn't know your name.

**01.1 Income tax**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Personal income tax | 0% | flat rate |

**01.2 Tax residence test**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 183-day rule | does not exist here |  |
| Economic interest | does not exist here |  |
| Family centre | does not exist here |  |
| Habitual abode | does not exist here |  |
| Extended-stay test | does not exist here |  |

## Will your wealth be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Bahamas** keeps its hands off what you hold. *No capital gains tax*, no annual wealth grab, no inheritance regime.

Your portfolio compounds in peace and leaves the way it came in; nobody's standing at the door with their palm out.

**02.1 Investment income**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital gains | 0% | flat |
| Dividend tax | 0% | flat |
| Interest income | 0% | flat |

**02.2 Wealth & estate**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wealth tax | NONE | no annual wealth tax · no real-estate wealth tax · no net-worth assessment |
| Inheritance system | NONE | no estate tax · no heir-based duties · no succession tax framework. Wealth transfers across heir-classes are not taxed in this jurisdiction. Only standard probate / registration fees may apply. |

**02.3 Crypto**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Crypto · tax regime | ZERO TAX | Rate: 0% · The Bahamas has no personal income tax, capital gains tax, or corporate tax. Digital assets are regulated under the DARE Act 2024, but individual gains from trading, mining, or staking are not subject to taxation. |
| Crypto-to-crypto | NEUTRAL | a swap is not a taxable realisation event |
| FATF travel rule | NOT SIGNED | no information-sharing obligation on VASP transfers |

## Easy to run a company there?

Long story short: YES.
Corporate tax in **Bahamas** sits at a *low* **15%**, with *no criminal liability* for misuse of corporate assets and *non-public* registries.

Cheap to run, discreet about who owns what, and no prosecutor breathing down your neck. A clean place to operate.

**03.1 Rates**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Corporate tax | 0 → 15% | progressive |

| Bracket (USD) | Rate |
| --- | --- |
| 0 – 868,933,500 | exempt |
| 868,933,500 + | 15% |

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| VAT standard rate | 10% | 2 distinct tiers in force |

| VAT family | Category | Rate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Food & drink | food | 5% |
| Health | pharma | 5% |
| Health | medical dev. | 5% |

**03.2 Regime & registry**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| IP Box · Patent Box | NONE | no IP regime · IP income taxed under standard corporate rules |
| Misuse of corporate assets | NO CRIMINAL | no criminal liability · The Bahamas follows English Common Law principles where the 'Misuse of Corporate Assets' (Abus de Biens Sociaux) does not exist as a specific criminal offense. While a company is a separate legal entity, the use of company funds by a sole shareholder-director of a solvent company is typically treated as a civil breach of fiduciary duty under Section 95 of the Companies Act 1992 or as an unauthorized distribution/tax matter. Criminal prosecution for theft or fraud is generally precluded because the 'dishonesty' element is difficult to establish when the sole owner of the entity has consented to the transaction and no creditors are harmed. |
| Shareholders privacy | PRIVATE | Registrar General's Department |
| Directors privacy | PUBLIC PAYWALL | Registrar General's Department |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

_In this country, the most standard company form is called International Business Company (International Business Company (IBC)). The costs below are for incorporating a company in its simplest form, for reference only._

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Government Registration Fee | USD 350 |  |
| Name Reservation and Stamp Duty | USD 125 |  |
| Professional Incorporation and First-Year Agent Service | USD 1,775 |  |
| Total | USD 2,250 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Bahamas** has no treaty network at all, which buries the holding question, full stop.

Every dividend in or out eats the statutory withholding at full rate, and no domestic regime can patch a hole that sits on the source side. Don't park a holding here.

**04.1 Substance & exemptions**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Territorial · individuals | TERRITORIAL | territorial — foreign-source income generally untaxed |
| Territorial · corporates | TERRITORIAL | territorial principle — foreign-source profits generally exempt |
| Participation exemption | 100% | no minimum threshold · no holding period |
| CFC rules | NONE | no controlled foreign corporation regime · foreign-source corporate income out of scope |

**04.2 Withholding tax · non-resident**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| WHT · dividends | 0% | non-resident outbound |
| WHT · interest | 0% | non-resident outbound |
| WHT · royalties | 0% | non-resident outbound |
| Tax-haven WHT | NONE | no punitive rate on record |

**04.3 Treaty network**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Treaties signed | 0 | active |
| Treaties pending | — | in negotiation |

## Easy to come and go?

Long story short: LITTLE.
Coming and going from **Bahamas** costs you nothing worth mentioning. *Territorial* regime (foreign income stays foreign), *no exit tax* at the door.

You show up with your stuff, you leave with your stuff, plus whatever you earned abroad in between. Borders the way they should all work.

**05.1 Exit & dual nationality**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Exit tax | NONE | no triggers active · residence change tax-free · no deemed-disposal mechanism |
| Dual citizenship | FORBIDDEN | naturalisation requires renouncing existing citizenship |

**05.2 Citizenship paths**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Residence | 7 years | available path to naturalisation |
| Marriage | — | available path to naturalisation |
| Birth | — | not available |
| Descent | 1 gen | available path to naturalisation |
| Investment | — | not available |

## Is your money watched?

Long story short: YES, CLOSELY.
Yes, your money is watched here. **Bahamas** signed *every major* automatic-exchange framework: CRS, FATCA, CARF, MLI, MAAC. Open an account and it gets reported straight to your home tax authority (Americans: FATCA applies, no exceptions).

Corporate registries stay *non-public*, which saves a thin slice of ownership discretion. But your financial trail is made of glass.

**Multilateral reporting frameworks — 4/9 active · 4 pending**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CRS | Signed | 2018 |
| CARF | Signed | 2024 |
| FATCA | In force | 2014 |
| MLI | None | — |
| BEPS | Signed | — |
| MAAC | In force | 2018 |
| GLOBAL FORUM | Signed | — |
| EOIR | In force | — |
| CRYPTO TRAVEL RULE | In force | — |

## Is it blacklisted?

Long story short: SOMEWHAT.
**Bahamas** is *flagged* by a few national tax administrations (drawn from FR/ES/PT/BR) and sits outside the FATF club.

The friction is selective: anti-abuse rules fire on specific corridors, and counterparties ask more questions than usual. Neither the FATF nor the EU has it on their lists, which keeps the damage contained: a nuisance, not a scarlet letter.

**Blacklist exposure — Listed by 3 authorities**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| EMBARGO | Clear | un / us / eu sanctions |
| FATF | Clear | grey / black list |
| EU | Clear | non-cooperative list |
| FRANCE | Clear | ETNC list |
| SPAIN | Listed | tax-haven list |
| PORTUGAL | Listed | favourable regimes |
| BRAZIL | Listed | low-tax list |

## Do you feel free there?

Long story short:
Not enough data to tell how free you'd actually feel in **Bahamas**.

**08.1 Press freedom**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Press freedom · RSF index | — |  |

Central bank digital currency

    Program Status Cross-border Sources     Sand Dollar

The main goals of the Sand Dollar to modernise and streamline the country's financial system, reduce service delivery costs, increase transactional efficiency and improve financial inclusion.

Central Bank of Bahamas

   LAUNCHED   —   [announce →](https://www.reuters.com/technology/bahamas-regulate-banks-offer-cbank-digital-currency-2024-07-01/ "Announcement")

 programs 1

## Connected to the world?

Long story short: POORLY CONNECTED.
The two rails that matter are both dead in **Bahamas**. *Stripe* won't onboard you, so card payments mean a foreign structure or a local processor with its own rules. *Amazon* doesn't deliver either.

Some secondary services run (**3/11**), but for an online business this is swimming against the current.

**Accept payments — 1/6 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Stripe | Not available | card payments |
| PayPal | Not available | wallet payments |
| Adyen | Not available | enterprise psp |
| Mollie | Not available | eu payments |
| GoCardless | Not available | direct debit |
| Paddle | Available | merchant of record |

**Bank and move money — 1/3 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wise | Available | multi-currency |
| Revolut | Not available | personal banking |
| Revolut Business | Not available | business banking |

**Buy and sell on Amazon — 1/2 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Amazon | Not available | consumer delivery |
| Amazon Seller | Available | marketplace selling |

  SEE ALSO## Other jurisdictions worth comparing

Picked by similarity of strategic profile to Bahamas. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

 [   Cayman Islands KY  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ky) [   Kuwait KW  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/kw) [   Bahrain BH  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/bh)

  NOTABLY LESS FAVORABLE Same family of strategies, lower total score.

 [   Malaysia MY  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/my) [   Mauritius MU  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mu) [   Namibia NA  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/na)