Bahamas Bahamas 
A mature financial centre deserves an unhurried, capable partner. We guide the setup of your Bahamas company and stay on as the single point of contact for its annual filings, accounts, secretarial support, and records.
Expanship is an independent corporate services provider, not a government agency, and is not affiliated with the Government of The Bahamas, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas, or the Registrar General’s Department. We advise, prepare, and coordinate on your behalf; those authorities alone decide what they approve.
The Jurisdiction
Your company is governed by English common law under the International Business Companies Act, in force since 2000 and amended since. The final appeal is heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, so the last word on your company's constitution is English judicial reasoning.
The Bahamian dollar is pegged at parity to the United States dollar, and the International Business Company sits outside the exchange control that applies to residents. The company holds and moves funds in any currency without a permit.
Members are recorded at the registered office and beneficial owners with the registered agent, and neither is published. Directors and officers are the exception: that list is placed on the public file and open to inspection, which is worth knowing before you decide who is appointed.
The Bahamas asks for a registered agent and a registered office, both in the islands, and for nothing further by way of presence. Directors and shareholders may live anywhere, and the company owes the country neither premises nor payroll; the agent's office stands in for all of it.
The government fee on 1 January. An accounting records declaration to your registered agent by 30 September. An economic substance report within nine months of the fiscal year end. There is no corporate income tax return and no statutory audit for an ordinary International Business Company.
Our services
How our Bahamas services fit together, from forming the company to keeping it filed and represented. Follow a branch for the detail.
The company
Formed once under the International Business Companies Act, with our specialists preparing and submitting the paperwork, then kept current by us for as long as you hold it.
Overview
The entity
Existing company
After incorporation
Pricing
Overview
Annual filings
The record
Pricing
On the ground
Who appears on the record
Twenty measures in five categories, scored out of ten by our team, and the Bahamas' present standing with the international bodies that assess it.
Privacy & Confidentiality
Average 7.4
Banking & Financial
Average 9.1
Regulatory & Compliance
Average 9.0
Business Environment
Average 9.3
International Recognition
Average 7.4
Bahamas scores 8.4 overall
Bahamas
What the beneficial ownership register holds, who is allowed to see it, and what leaves the jurisdiction automatically each year.
How readily international banks open and hold accounts for entities formed here, and how freely money moves once they do.
The governing law, the bodies that supervise it, and where the jurisdiction sits on the international tax and transparency regimes.
What it takes to form and run an entity here: how fast, what it is taxed, and how stable the law behind it has proved.
How the jurisdiction is regarded outside its own borders, and how far its treaty and trade arrangements actually reach.
Start your company
A single fee covers the formation itself. The International Business Companies Act adds two standing appointments, and your structure may call for two more.
One legal structure in The Bahamas, and every piece of work between your enquiry and the day the company exists.
International Business Companies Act, 2000 (as amended)
Already have a Bahamas company with another agent? Bring it to us for US$350, one time. Its number, its date and its contracts do not change. About transferring your company
The Registrar General’s Department does not accept applications from the public: the filing must be made by a registered agent. Expanship is not a government agency and is not that agent — we prepare and check your file and instruct that provider to file it, and the decision, with its timing, rests with the authority.
The International Business Companies Act keeps a registered agent and a registered office attached to the company for its whole life. The first year of each is inside the incorporation fee, and each renews annually.
Appointment A
A company must at all times have a registered agent in The Bahamas. We put that appointment in place and keep it current, so everything the authorities send arrives at one address that is watched.
About registered agentsAppointment B
An address in Nassau that stands on the record as your company’s address. Your statutory records are held there and your correspondence is forwarded on.
About the registered officeA governance decision taken at formation, not an extra bought afterwards. It matters more here than in most of the Caribbean: the list of directors and officers is placed on the public file and open to inspection, while members and beneficial owners are not published.
On the board
On the share register
Banks open accounts for companies that already exist, which is why this step follows the incorporation rather than forming part of it. Help opening a multi-currency business account is included in every package.
Commonly opened in Singapore, Hong Kong, Europe, the United States, or with a bank in Nassau. There is no requirement to bank in the islands, and the International Business Company sits outside the exchange control that applies to residents.
Ongoing compliance
A Bahamas company is formed once and maintained for as long as you own it. Its year runs from the January fee to the September records declaration, and we hold all of it under one annual package.
The one document that leaves your company on a date the government sets. It is drafted from records we already hold, sent to you for a single approval, and filed.
The one service with no filing date attached to it, because it is the thing every declaration draws on. Kept month by month, so the figures already exist on the day they are needed.
Accounting and bookkeeping Transactions recorded, accounts reconciled and financial statements kept current, so the accounting records declaration due to your registered agent each September is drawn from figures that already exist.Why Expanship
Your Bahamas company has one team behind it from the start: the substance report, the books, the company records and the local address, all under a price you knew before we began.
What every engagement includes
The setup, the local presence and the substance report in one figure, agreed first.
One person who knows your file and answers for it, not a ticket queue.
What we need from you, and what happens next, set out before the work starts.
Substance report, ownership updates, books and records, by the team that set it up.
Onboarding to signing, all online. No trip to the islands unless the law demands one.
Strict security protocols and professional confidentiality throughout the process.
FAQ
Six questions about the jurisdiction and four about working with us.
English common law, under a companies statute in force since 2000 and amended since. The final appeal is heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.
No. The Bahamas has no corporate income tax, no capital gains tax and no withholding tax. A company pays an annual government fee instead. Tax may still be due where the company is managed or its owners live.
No. The Bahamas is on neither EU list, Annex I or Annex II, and it is not under FATF increased monitoring. Its most recent FATF evaluation rated all forty Recommendations compliant or largely compliant, and the OECD Global Forum rates it Largely Compliant.
The directors and officers are on a public file that can be inspected. Shareholders and beneficial owners are recorded with the registered agent and are not published. That split is worth knowing before you decide who sits on the board.
Yes. A Bahamas company can be wholly owned by non-residents, with no requirement for a local shareholder or a resident director. The only local presence is the registered agent and registered office.
No. Expanship is a privately owned corporate services company. We are not a government agency, registry, or regulator, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Government of The Bahamas, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas, or the Registrar General’s Department. Company registrations, certificates, and registry documents are issued solely by those authorities, at their discretion. Our fee is for our own work; government fees are set by those authorities and not by us.
No. The Registrar General’s Department does not accept incorporation filings from the public — the filing must be made by a registered agent. Engaging a provider is therefore a requirement of local law rather than a shortcut past something you could do yourself. Expanship prepares and checks your file and instructs that provider to make the filing; the decision, and its timing, rest with the authority.
Yes. Board and shareholder decisions can be taken anywhere, and the company is not required to rent premises or employ anyone in the islands. The registered agent and registered office, which we hold for you, are the whole of the local presence.
A Bahamas company can bank in Nassau or abroad. Accounts are commonly opened in Singapore, Hong Kong, Europe or the United States. The company sits outside the exchange control that applies to residents, so funds move in any currency. We prepare the file and the bank decides.
Two figures matter. Forming the company starts from US$1,375 in our packages, which include the government fee, the first year's registered agent and office, and the documents. Keeping it in order afterwards starts from US$1,099 a year. The government fee is itemised on the pricing page.
Contact Us
Tell us what you have in mind for the Bahamas, from a first company to the upkeep of one you already own, and one of our advisors will come back to you.
