You can register a corporation in the Bahamas with relative ease. Even more popular, now, is the Bahamas LLC. Many travelers are familiar with the Bahamas as a great place to visit. Many businesspeople have taken an additional step to form a Bahamas Corporation because the country is also one of the best jurisdictions to use for holding cash and investments securely and privately. The legislature has also made the Bahamas an attractive financial center for running an offshore business. Many investors and business owners prefer using the Bahamas as their jurisdiction of choice because local laws offer not only a great deal of confidentiality, but also a strong, safe banking environment as well as several opportunities for financial freedom, savings, and investment within the country.
There are some additional entities that are growing in popularity. One is the Bahamas Foundation that is used for tax advantages and charitable use. The other is the Bahamas SAC, or Segregated Account Company. With the SAC, it is one company upon which you can, for a price, add several cells. You can add as many cells as you desire. Like a cabinet with several cubby-holes, each cell is separate from the other cells for liability purposes. So, you have the simplicity of one company and the liability protection of many.
Bahamas Incorporation Benefits
As a very popular place for US and UK citizens to form offshore companies, the passing of the International Business Companies (IBC) Act of 1990 has since inspired many thousands to pick the Bahamas as their jurisdiction for company formation. One reason for this increased popularity revolves around the privacy laws that help keep information about the owners of corporations formed in the Bahamas confidential. Another attractive benefit the Bahamas provides for investors is tax exemption to both company shareholders and the company entity for twenty years after the act of incorporation is complete. (Check with the laws of your own country, as many are taxed on worldwide income.)
Furthermore, helpful services are also offered once one incorporates his or her company in the Bahamas. One can sign up for private services, such as mailboxes with mail forwarding, faxes, and messaging, which will make conducting business outside of the country far more efficient and private for the business owner. The Bahamas also ensures that companies are treated with confidentiality, allowing the owners of the Bahamas company to keep their names private. In the Bahamas, several laws exist concerning the International Business Corporation that place an emphasis on privacy.
Forming a corporation in the Bahamas can offer you some of the following benefits:
- Information about both you and your company remains anonymous.
- Corporate income taxes are exempt in the Bahamas once one incorporates.
- Personal income taxes also become exempt in the Bahamas with the formation of your corporation.
- Laws governing the rules of incorporation in the Bahamas do not allow for information sharing.
- Stockholders names and information are kept private.
- Corporate shares are not taxed.
- The cost of retaining the corporation annually is low.
- Once one forms a corporation, it is easy to obtain a bank account in the Bahamas.
Again, please be sure to check with the tax laws of the country in which you reside and/or hold citizenship.
How To Form a Bahamian Company
To complete the formation of a corporation or LLC in the Bahamas, call one of our representatives. Here are a few required steps that we will complete together.
- First, make sure you think up a unique name for your company. If the name is available, your agent fills out the appropriate documents so that you obtain the name of your choosing.
- Next, you provide the appropriate due diligence as required, at the time, by Bahamian law. Because the Bahamas monitors money laundering carefully, those forming corporations here need to provide both a financial and character reference as well as notarized copy of his or her passport. Furthermore, you will provide an original utility bill as proof of current address. These documents are not publicly recorded.
- Next, your agent prepares and notarizes the appropriate documents that are required to file your incorporation. In the Bahamas, including your corporate articles. Your agent’s job is to ensure the documentation is completed both ethically and legally.
- Next, the Affidavit must be completed and signed by a witness and a notary public or attorney.
- Fees are paid to the government to register your company.
- After fees are paid, and paperwork is complete, the documents are filed at the government office. Your corporate service provider’s job is to ensure that the paperwork and fees are correctly taken care of and the items you file all fall within the rules of the law.
- Typically, there is about a ten day turnaround time for a company to be filed and the incorporation documents to be shipped. This is an estimate only, not a guarantee.
- Last, your company seal is created so your company can make impressions on official documents, stock certificates, by-laws, etc are drafted. A corporate record book is manufactured and shipped to you.
