Setting up a company in the Bahamas
How you set up a company in the Bahamas depends first on one question: will the company do business inside the country or not? A company that serves clients and holds assets abroad is usually an international business company (IBC), filed online by a licensed provider acting as registered agent. A company that trades locally is a regular, or domestic, company, and a founder from abroad then also deals with the Bahamas Investment Authority, a business licence and VAT. This guide walks through both routes.
In short: for activity outside the country, appoint a provider licensed by the Securities Commission as registered agent, give it your identity and ownership documents, and let it file the IBC with the Registrar General. For business in the Bahamas itself, expect an attorney-signed incorporation, a project proposal to the Bahamas Investment Authority, a business licence from the Department of Inland Revenue and, where it applies, VAT registration.
Two routes to set up a company in the Bahamas
| International business company (IBC) | Regular (domestic) company | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical use | Holding, investment and business with clients abroad | Trading, hiring and serving customers in the Bahamas |
| Who files | A licensed provider through the Registrar General’s online system | An attorney signs the statutory declaration and affidavit |
| Extra approvals for founders from abroad | Set by the activity, not the company form | Project proposal to the Bahamas Investment Authority |
| Business licence | Needed only if the company operates a business in the Bahamas | Needed |
The two forms are not interchangeable. Pick the route from where the money will be earned, not from which form seems quicker. If you are unsure, a company formation provider in the Bahamas can tell you which one your plan needs before any filing.
Route A: an IBC through a licensed registered agent
The registered agent comes first
The Registrar General’s Department describes IBC incorporation through its online system, CARS, where licensed providers reserve names, file the forms and submit compliance documents. In practice you do not file an IBC yourself: you appoint a provider, and it acts for the company.
Those providers are supervised by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas, whose fee rules list a licence category for “corporate services provided for IBC’s and ELPs”. The Commission’s own risk assessment counted 251 licensed providers in the corporate services segment at 31 December 2025, administering about 27,700 entities, with 634 new formations during 2025.
What happens before the filing
The provider has to know who it is dealing with before it reserves a name. Expect it to ask for:
- Identity and address for every shareholder, director and person who ultimately owns or controls the company.
- An ownership chart that runs up to the individuals at the top.
- A description of the business, where it will operate and where the funds come from.
- Documents for any corporate shareholder, such as its certificate of incorporation and register of directors.
Providers keep beneficial ownership records for the entities they administer, and the Securities Commission tests those records during its examinations. Answer the ownership questions fully: the file cannot move until they are settled.
Filing and the first documents
Once the checks are complete, the provider reserves the name, files the incorporation documents through CARS and receives the company’s certificate. The company’s registers are then set up at the registered office. Ask the provider for a written timetable that starts from the day your documents are complete, since the checks can take longer than the filing itself.
Route B: a domestic company that trades in the Bahamas
A company that sells to customers in the Bahamas, rents premises or employs staff there follows a different path.
- Incorporation. The government’s service page for a regular company lists the assistance of an attorney to sign the statutory declaration and affidavit as an eligibility condition.
- Investment approval. According to the government’s business establishment page, non-Bahamians and permanent residents who want to do business in the Bahamas must submit a project proposal to the Bahamas Investment Authority. Ask whether your activity is open to foreign owners before you commit to premises or staff.
- Business licence. The Department of Inland Revenue states that anyone who owns or operates a business in the Bahamas must hold a business licence under the Business Licence Act 2023. Applications are made online with supporting documents and approvals from other agencies, such as the National Insurance Board, and approval normally takes up to seven working days once the file is complete. The business licence tax for a new business is $100, other than temporary, occasional and non-resident businesses; for an existing business it varies with the type of business and its turnover.
- VAT. VAT has applied since January 2015 at a standard rate of 10%, with a zero rate for goods exported to customers abroad. Registration is done online; ask an adviser whether your expected sales make registration compulsory.
If you also plan to live in the Bahamas while running the business, residence is a separate application. Six of the firms listed on Accountanty in the Bahamas advise on residence and visas.
Records and yearly duties
Setting up is a one-off. Keeping the company in good standing is a yearly cycle.
- Accounting records. The Securities Commission’s guideline on accounting records explains that companies, including IBCs, must keep reliable records of all money received and spent. For an IBC, the records must be accessible to the registered agent, and a statutory declaration about them goes to the Registrar General through the agent.
- Provider fees to the regulator. Each licensed provider pays the Securities Commission an annual fee of $50.00 for every registered IBC it serves, due on or before 1 April. Expect it to appear in your yearly invoice in some form.
- Economic substance. The Department of Inland Revenue runs substance reporting under CESRA. Whether your company has to report, and what it must show, depends on its activities, so raise it with the provider at the start.
- Ownership changes. Tell the provider about any change in shareholders, directors or controllers as it happens.
For the bookkeeping itself, six listed firms offer accounting and eight offer tax compliance.
Taxes the Department of Inland Revenue administers
The Department of Inland Revenue’s site covers VAT, business licences and real property tax. Companies that belong to a group should also check the Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax Act 2024: the Department asks every Bahamian entity within scope of its reporting rules to file the DMTT notification forms, and tells entities to ask their legal or advisory representatives whether they are in scope.
Your home country may tax the company or its profits too, depending on where you live and where the company is managed. Take advice there before you choose a structure. Among the firms listed on Accountanty in the Bahamas, six offer VAT services and five offer payroll, the two areas a domestic company meets first.
Firms in Nassau that can help with the set-up
Accountanty lists nine firms in the Bahamas, all in Nassau: five corporate services providers, three law firms and one accounting firm. All nine offer company formation and seven offer corporate secretarial work. Six name foreign clients as a focus, and real estate is the industry they mention most (six firms), followed by funds (four). For firms used to working with clients from abroad, see the accountants for foreign clients list.
To compare offers without writing to every firm, send a free quote request through Accountanty. We review it and forward it to firms that match your plans.
Verdict
Decide first whether the company will earn its money inside or outside the country, because that choice sets everything else: who files, which approvals you need and which licences and taxes apply. With that settled and your documents complete, a licensed provider or attorney can help you set up a company in the Bahamas and keep it in good standing year after year.