Bahamas Offshore Company Formation and Incorporation

by ISOG

Bahamas Offshore Company Formation and Incorporation. 

Bahamas is located in an archipelago of approximately 700 islands and cays located in the Atlantic Ocean 80 kilometers east of the Peninsula of Florida. There is an estimated population of 340,000. The official language is English and its currency is the Bahamian Dollar and the US dollars that are used interchangeably throughout the island chain. The primary industries are the commercial and financial activities who offer a highly skilled workforce. The Bahamas is an independent country and continues to remain an active member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The Bahamas has a Parliamentary type democracy. The legal system is based on the English common law, complemented by Bahamian statutes.

Bahamas Offshore Company Formation

Bahamas offshore companies can carry out the same types of business as onshore companies and the liability of its shareholders is generally limited to the amount of capital they have invested into the company.

The tax rate applied by the government in the jurisdiction in which an offshore company is incorporated is very low if not zero. In some jurisdictions, offshore companies offer a high level of confidentiality which onshore companies do not have.

Usually an offshore company cannot operate in the jurisdiction where it has been incorporated. An exception is Panama, where a Panama offshore company can at the same time operate offshore at a zero tax rate and onshore at the local tax rate.

Bahamas offshore company incorporation and Bahamas offshore company formation are quite simple, as well as its management and administration, but it requires some planning. In fact, a company does not need to be administered in the country of its incorporation.

What you need to think about is the objectives you want to achieve by setting up a Bahamas offshore company: Do you need confidentiality?; Do you need to operate freely in European countries?; Do you need to operate in countries which have a double taxation agreement in place?; or Do you need to protect your company assets from confiscation or expropriation orders or similar actions by foreign governments? In all these cases, ISOG Bahamas lawyer and Bahamas attorney at law can help you with Bahamas offshore company incorporation.

Highlights of Bahamas Offshore Company:

  • Minimum 1 director
  • Minimum 1 shareholder
  • Bearer shares not permitted
  • Confidentiality on directors and shareholders information
  • Corporate seal required
  • Minimum licence fee: USD 350
  • No restriction of free repatriation of profits
  • Based on English Law
  • British dependent territory
  • Neutral tax jurisdiction
  • Regulated financial services industry