The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The Judiciary of the Bahamas is independent of the executive and the legislature. Jurisprudence is based on English law.
The country is a member of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) (see 6.1.2), the Commonwealth of Nations and maintains the British monarch as its official head of state.
The Bahamas has a reputation as a tax haven because there is no corporate income tax, personal income tax, capital gains tax, or inheritance tax. However, there is indirect taxation of assets held by resident individuals and corporations.
There are, therefore, no employer obligations to meet in terms of either calculating income tax on salary or reporting income for taxation purposes. However, employers operating businesses in the Bahamas must pay business licence fees which are a percentage of revenue (see 5.1).
The country funds government spending from real property taxes, import and export duties, stamp taxes, licence fees (1.3) and social security contributions. It should be
Web page updated on 17 Mar 2025 15:57
