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Bahamas
Caribbean
Lucky Nomads World Index
6.69 / 10
Global rank
=91
Corporate tax
0%
Personal tax
0%
Lucky Nomads Proprietary Indices
22 scoring dimensions scored independently using a deterministic methodology built on primary sources and structured analytical inference.
- SafetyShield Index4.7 / 10
- Affordability Index4.4 / 10
- Entry Ease Index6.8 / 10
- Tax Freedom Index10.0 / 10
- WiFi Index7.4 / 10
- Admin Ease Index6.8 / 10
- Healthcare Index7.6 / 10
- City Comfort Index7.8 / 10
- WeatherComfort Index6.8 / 10
- Banking Index8.0 / 10
- GeoStability Index8.3 / 10
- Justice & Order Index6.7 / 10
- Quality of Life Index7.6 / 10
- Open Society Index6.8 / 10
- Flight Index4.8 / 10
- Environmental Quality Index8.2 / 10
- English Index8.8 / 10
- Wealth Protection Index8.5 / 10
- AI Access Index5.6 / 10
- Economic Openness Index6.3 / 10
- Market Depth Index4.9 / 10
- ClimateShield Index3.3 / 10
Country snapshot
- Capital
- Nassau
- Population (approx.)
- 405,000
- Area (km²)
- 13,943 km²
- Currency code (ISO 4217)
- BSD
- Currency name
- Bahamian dollar
- Main airport IATA code
- NAS
- Airport name
- Lynden Pindling International Airport
General facts
- Minimum monthly cost
- From $2,920/month
- Main languages
- English
- Jurisdiction type
- Country
- Region
- Caribbean
- Web TLD
- .bs
- Phone calling code
- +1242
Web TLD and phone codes are general references and can differ for territories or special numbering plans.
Tax system
- Marginal CIT (corporate income tax)
- 0%Ultra lowNo corporate income tax
- Marginal PIT (personal income tax)
- 0%Ultra lowNo personal income tax
Corporate taxation basis: No corporate income tax. The country has no corporate-level income tax.
No corporate income tax under general Bahamas law. In the Freeport free trade zone, the Hawksbill Creek Agreement preserves exemptions from excise tax, stamp duty and most customs duty until 2054 for Freeport licensees. Section 3 of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax Act 2024 expressly applies to the Bahamas including the Port Area, so in-scope MNE groups operating there remain liable for the 15 percent top-up tax.
The Bahamas levies no general corporate income tax. From 1 January 2025, the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax Act 2024 imposes a 15 percent effective rate on multinational enterprise groups with global revenue of EUR 750 million or more in two of the four preceding years (Pillar Two QDMTT). Domestic businesses pay Business Licence Tax of up to 1.25 percent on gross turnover under the Business Licence Act 2023, rising to 2.25 percent for specific regulated financial activities. In-scope DMTT entities may credit their Business Licence Tax against DMTT due under a 2025 DMTT Act amendment.
Personal income tax basis. No personal income tax. The country has no national personal income tax.
No personal income tax, no payroll tax on individuals, no capital gains tax, no wealth tax, no inheritance tax. National Insurance of 4.65 percent (employee) and 6.65 percent (employer) applies to insurable wages capped at weekly from 1 July 2026. Real Property Tax reaches 1 percent on owner-occupied homes and 1.5 percent on commercial properties or foreign-owned rental properties, while the 2 percent rate applies only to foreign-owned vacant land, not residential property.
Tax percentages here are editorial reference figures for comparison, not individualized tax advice.
Special tax regimes
For companies
Hotels Encouragement Act
AvailableSectoral incentive regime for hotel and resort developers granting customs duty exemption on construction materials, furnishings and fixtures, and…
Industries Encouragement Act
AvailableSectoral incentive regime for manufacturing entities granting full customs duty exemption on machinery, raw materials and building supplies for the…
Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT)
AvailableOECD Pillar Two Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax enacted 29 November 2024, deemed in force from 1 January 2024.
You either qualify for the Bahamas' special tax regimes, or you don't. GeoCompass determines your eligibility, highlights the applicable conditions, and helps estimate your potential tax exposure.
Check my eligibilityVisa and mobility
Your access
Visa need and length of stay for Bahamas. Saved on your device.
Overview
- Citizenship by investment
Not currently available
- Residence by investment
Available
- Remote work visa (digital nomad visa)
Available
Programmes
Bahamas lists several residency and mobility routes across residence by investment, work (employer sponsored), retirement routes, family and dependant routes, remote work visas, and dwelling-based residence. Lucky Nomads tracks these programmes as editorial reference points. Thresholds, documents, and personal eligibility are evaluated in GeoCompass against your exact profile.
8 programmes listed · 8 are marked available in our editorial review
Residence by investment
2 programmesCapital, property, fund, or declared investment routes that can lead to longer-term residence.
- Available
Economic Permanent Residence (EPR) Standard
- Available
Economic Permanent Residence (EPR) with Right to Work in Own Business
Work (employer sponsored)
1 programmeEmployer-linked permits and skilled employment passes for hired professionals.
- Available
Work Permit (Employer-Sponsored)
Retirement routes
1 programmeRetirement-age or pension-linked residence options.
- Available
Annual Residence Permit (Permit to Reside)
Family and dependant routes
2 programmesSpouse, dependant, and family reunion style permits.
- Available
Permanent Residence as Spouse of a Bahamian Citizen
- Available
Resident Spouse Permit
Remote work visas
1 programmeRemote work or digital nomad style permits.
- Available, rules being updated
Bahamas Extended Access Travel Stay (BEATS)
Dwelling-based residence
1 programmeResidence rights that flow from occupying an eligible dwelling, without a formal visa application.
- Available
Home Owner Residence Card
Not all residency routes are accessible. Some require minimum income, investment thresholds, local substance, or strict eligibility conditions. GeoCompass evaluates which options you can actually secure in the Bahamas.
Evaluate my residency optionsVisa and programme labels reflect editorial research, not individualized legal advice. Thresholds, documents, and personal eligibility are evaluated in GeoCompass. Always confirm rules with official government sources before you plan a move.
Dimensions breakdown
Strongest dimensions
- Tax Freedom Index10.0 / 10Exceptional tax freedom
- English Index8.8 / 10Very strong english index
- Wealth Protection Index8.5 / 10Very strong wealth protection index
Weakest dimensions
- ClimateShield Index3.3 / 10
- Affordability Index4.4 / 10
FAQ
What entry rights and short-stay conditions apply to foreign nationals in the Bahamas?
Nationals of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, the European Economic Area, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and most Latin American countries enter the Bahamas without a pre-arranged visa, but the permitted period is not uniform. United States citizens are expressly admitted as bona fide visitors for up to eight months, and Canadian citizens require a visa only for stays exceeding eight months. Other visa-exempt nationals, including United Kingdom, European, Commonwealth, and listed Latin American citizens, receive a period set by the applicable agreement and by the immigration officer at the port of entry, up to the statutory visitor maximum of eight months, with listed Latin American nationalities capped at three months. Admission is conditional on a passport valid for at least six months, a return or onward ticket, and evidence of sufficient funds, and every traveller completes a Bahamas Immigration Disembarkation and Embarkation Card on arrival. Visitors may travel for tourism, family visits, and attendance at business meetings and conferences, but no visitor may engage in any form of gainful occupation. Business travellers in a senior management role at a company operating in the Bahamas or an affiliate can attend meetings, conduct research, or showcase at trade shows, conferences, seminars, or summits for a period under fourteen days without a work permit under the Trusted Traveller Programme, which requires a letter of request to the Director of Immigration and a non-refundable fee of USD 200. Organizers of profit-making events and anyone taking up paid work do not qualify. A person intending to work for one to ninety days must obtain a Short Term Work Permit, and any engagement beyond ninety days requires a full work permit issued by the Department of Immigration. Nationals outside the visa-exempt regime, a defined list of over seventy countries concentrated in parts of Africa, mainland and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the Western Balkans, and the former Soviet space, must obtain a Bahamian visa before travelling. These applicants apply through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs electronic visa system, with any country-specific documentation requirements handled within that process. A single-entry visitor visa costs USD 160 and a multiple-entry visa USD 250, with standard processing of seven to ten business days from a complete submission. A visitor who wishes to remain beyond the period granted must apply to the Department of Immigration for an extension of stay, which involves an in-person interview and a non-refundable processing fee of USD 200 introduced in the 2024 to 2025 Budget Communication and effective 18 September 2024.
Last reviewed:
What long-term residence options exist in the Bahamas for internationally mobile individuals?
The Bahamas offers several statutory long-term residence pathways relevant to internationally mobile individuals. The Permit to Reside, commonly called the Annual Permit, is issued under the Immigration Act (Chapter 191) to non-Bahamians who wish to live in the country for any purpose other than working, covering students, dependants of persons lawfully resident, and adult applicants able to document their financial position. The government fee is per year for an adult principal applicant, per year for a dependent, and for a full-time higher-education student or trainee, plus a processing fee, and the permit is renewed annually. A separate instrument, the Home Owner's Identification Card, is issued under the International Persons Land Holding Act (Chapter 140) to foreign owners of a habitable Bahamian residence who keep their primary home abroad. It is a type of residence permit that eases entry for foreign homeowners rather than a permanent residence certificate, and it carries a processing fee and a issuance fee on approval. The signature instrument for investors is Economic Permanent Residence (EPR) under section 17A of the Immigration Act, introduced by the Immigration (Amendment) Act 2021 with effect from 1 July 2021 and tightened by the Immigration (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2024 with effect from 1 January 2025. The qualifying threshold is an investment of held for at least ten years, in Bahamian real estate or in Zero Coupon Bonds issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas, with a deed of gift expressly excluded as qualifying real estate. The certificate remains valid for the lifetime of the holder unless revoked, and the holder must reside in the country for a cumulative period of at least ninety days per year, well short of full-time presence. It may be endorsed for the spouse and any dependant ordinarily resident with the holder at per endorsement. The government fee is , or where the holder takes the right to engage in gainful occupation in a business of their own, and a completed application is deemed approved three months after receipt. A distinct pathway exists for the spouse of a Bahamian citizen, who may apply for permanent residence under section 14 of the Immigration Act after at least five years of subsisting marriage with continued cohabitation, at a government fee of plus the processing fee and with the right to work without restriction, the statute conditioning the certificate for a husband of a Bahamian citizen on five years of continuous cohabitation. Naturalisation is a separate and heavier step under the Bahamas Nationality Act, open to a legal permanent resident after ten years of legal status including the twelve months preceding the application and requiring at least six years of actual residence within that window, so the ninety-day EPR presence alone does not build toward citizenship. The Bahamas operates no citizenship by investment programme. For shorter horizons, the Bahamas Extended Access Travel Stay (BEATS) remains listed on the official portal as a remote-work and study permit valid for twelve months and renewable up to a maximum of three years, priced at USD 1,000 for a professional plus USD 500 per dependent and a USD 25 application fee per person, and applicants should confirm current processing directly with the Department of Immigration.
Last reviewed:
How does taxation apply to residents and foreign-source income in the Bahamas?
The Bahamas operates a no-tax regime for individuals: no personal income tax, no capital gains tax, no inheritance tax, no wealth tax, and no payroll tax on individuals beyond National Insurance contributions of 4.65 percent employee and 6.65 percent employer, capped at weekly insurable wages since 1 July 2026. For corporates, the general regime is also no income tax, modified by the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT) Act 2024 (Act No. 58 of 2024, assented to on 28 November 2024, published in the Official Gazette on 29 November 2024, and deemed to come into operation on 1 January 2024), which imposes a 15 percent effective minimum tax on the Bahamian profits of multinational enterprise groups with global revenue of at least EUR 750 million in 2 of the 4 preceding fiscal years. The Act applies to fiscal years commencing after 31 December 2023, but its application to years commencing in 2024 is conditional on an Income Inclusion Rule or Undertaxed Profits Rule applying abroad, so for most in-scope groups it first bites on fiscal years commencing in 2025. The DMTT incorporates the OECD GloBE Model Rules with the Substance-based Income Exclusion. Domestic businesses below the EUR 750 million threshold pay Business Licence Tax on a graduated turnover scale under the Business Licence Act 2023 (No. 13 of 2023), running from exempt below to percent above , with a 2.25 percent rate reserved for specified financial-services categories. DMTT-liable entities were initially exempted from Business Licence Tax to prevent double taxation under the 2024 Act, but the Business Licence (Amendment) Act 2025 removed that blanket exemption with effect from 1 January 2024. In its place, section 61A inserted into the Business Licence Act allows DMTT paid to be credited against the Business Licence Tax assessed for the year, capped at that Business Licence Tax and with any excess carried forward, while a reciprocal amendment to the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax Act would let Business Licence Tax paid be credited against DMTT due, capped at the DMTT liability, though that paired amendment remained unenforced as of May 2026. Sectoral and zone-based corporate concession regimes layer on top of this baseline. The Hawksbill Creek Agreement of 4 August 1955 established the Freeport Free Trade Zone on Grand Bahama Island, granting businesses licensed by the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) customs duty concessions and relief from the central government Business Licence fee, with Port Area businesses licensed by and paying licence fees to the GBPA instead, and, historically, Real Property Tax exemption that was withdrawn for foreign individuals and corporations from 2016, while the core customs concessions run until 4 August 2054. The Hotels Encouragement Act (Ch. 289) of 1954 grants qualifying hotels and resorts, meaning 10 or more rooms in New Providence and 4 or more rooms in the Family Islands, full customs duty exemption on construction materials plus full Real Property Tax exemption for the first 10 years and a nominal per-bedroom charge from the 11th to the 20th year. The Industries Encouragement Act of 18 December 1970 provides manufacturing entities with 5 years of full customs duty exemption, a reduced 10 percent rate thereafter, and 15 years of Real Property Tax exemption. The Commercial Enterprises Act 2017 fast-tracks specified commercial enterprises such as captive insurance, reinsurance, mutual fund administration, wealth management, software design, bioinformatics, biomedical industries, data warehousing, aviation maintenance, call centres, and maritime trade, requiring a minimum investment of for non-Bahamians. Qualifying businesses apply through the Commercial Enterprises Facilitation Unit for a specified commercial enterprise certificate, which lets key executive, managerial, and specialist personnel enter and establish operations ahead of formal work permit approval by the Department of Immigration. Tax residency for individuals is governed by the Tax Residency Certificate framework introduced in 2019 in response to OECD Common Reporting Standard pressure, requiring at least 90 days of physical presence in the Bahamas and no more than 183 days in any other single country. Other indirect taxes include 10 percent VAT, which applies in Freeport since 2015 despite legal challenges, and Government VAT on real property conveyances, formerly the stamp tax, graduated from 2.5 percent below to percent above for Bahamian individuals, with non-Bahamian purchasers paying a flat 10 percent regardless of value. Real Property Tax on developed property runs on a graduated scale, with owner-occupied homes exempt below and capped at 1 percent above and other property taxed from 0.75 to 1.5 percent, while non-Bahamian-owned unimproved land is taxed at 2 percent above . The treaty network is limited: the Bahamas holds Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) with numerous jurisdictions but no comprehensive Double Taxation Agreements with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, or Canada, which is the principal structural limitation for high-value-added cross-border investment planning.
Last reviewed:
Can foreign residents open bank accounts and deploy capital in the Bahamas without friction?
The Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBB) regulates the banking sector under the Central Bank of The Bahamas Act, 2020 and the Banks and Trust Companies Regulation Act, 2020. The domestic retail and commercial banks a resident would use, all designated Authorised Dealers permitted to transact foreign currency for residents, include RBC Royal Bank (Bahamas) Limited, CIBC Caribbean Bank (Bahamas) Limited (formerly CIBC FirstCaribbean, renamed in 2024), Scotiabank (Bahamas) Limited, Commonwealth Bank Limited, Bank of The Bahamas Limited and Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited. Private and wealth banking is provided mainly by non-resident licensed institutions such as Pictet Bank and Trust Limited. Opening a personal account as a non-resident involves enhanced due diligence and typically takes several weeks, requiring certified identification, proof of address, and documented source of funds and source of wealth, with heavier scrutiny for higher-risk profiles. The Bahamas applies the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) for automatic exchange of financial account information and the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) under a Model 1 intergovernmental agreement. It was removed from the European Union list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes on 20 February 2024 and from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring on 18 December 2020. Foreign nationals may acquire residential property under the International Persons Landholding Act, 1993 as amended. No prior government approval is required to buy an owner-occupied single-family home or condominium, or undeveloped land of less than two adjoining acres intended for a residence, but the acquisition must be registered with the Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA), with the certificate then recorded at the Registrar General. A permit from the BIA is required before closing for undeveloped land of two or more adjoining acres, or for any property intended for commercial development or rental. Amendments effective in 2024 and 2025 tied permit validity to settlement of value-added tax on the conveyance within 180 days and introduced an automatic 180-day permit extension. Digital asset and cryptocurrency activity is regulated under the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Act, 2024 (DARE 2024), which replaced the 2020 version and requires digital asset businesses to register with the Securities Commission of The Bahamas, with client-asset custody safeguards and fit-and-proper standards for their principals. The Bahamian dollar (BSD) is pegged one to one with the United States dollar (USD), and USD circulates alongside it in everyday domestic transactions. That parity does not mean an absence of capital controls. The Bahamas maintains a comprehensive exchange control regime under the Exchange Control Act, 1952 and the Exchange Control Regulations, 1956, administered by the Central Bank as Controller of Exchange, governing foreign currency transactions between residents and non-residents. Residents generally fund outward capital investment through the Investment Currency Market (ICM) at a premium, currently 5 percent on purchases and 2.5 percent on sales, or need prior Central Bank approval. Successive liberalisation, in 2018 and again in 2024, widened the limits within which commercial banks may approve foreign currency for the public and let individual investors operate within annual limits, but the controls remain in force and are explicitly retained to protect the currency peg.
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Is the Bahamas a viable operational base for foreign professionals?
Nassau on New Providence Island is the primary operational hub. Its Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS) is the country's main international gateway, served by around 17 airlines across more than 50 international and domestic destinations. Direct service to the United States is frequent and in most cases daily, covering Miami at about 1 hour 10 minutes of block time, Atlanta, Charlotte, New York JFK and Newark, plus Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Boston, Houston and Philadelphia. Canada is served nonstop to Toronto and Montreal, and British Airways operates the only transatlantic route, to London Heathrow. There is no scheduled direct service to continental Europe, so Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid all require a connection. A practical advantage is United States border preclearance at the airport, so travellers bound for the United States clear immigration and customs before departure and land as domestic arrivals. Digital infrastructure is strong across New Providence, where the two fixed operators, Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) and Cable Bahamas ALIVFibr, both run fibre-to-the-home networks reaching up to 600 Mbps to 1 Gbps, with BTC offering symmetrical 1 Gbps. BTC completed full fiberization of Grand Bahama in August 2025 and retired the legacy copper network, so Freeport now runs on fibre. Fibre has also reached several Family Islands including Abaco, Exuma, Long Island and Cat Island, while the more remote Out Islands rely on Starlink residential service at around USD 55 per month plus a one-time equipment kit. Coworking capacity is modest and concentrated in Nassau, principally INCUDESK with a downtown site and a corporate location near the airport, aeroSPACE, and the fintech-oriented Crypto Isle, with hot desks from about per month, dedicated desks in the to range and private offices from around per month. English is the official working language. The Bahamas observes daylight saving time in lockstep with United States Eastern Time, sitting on Eastern Standard Time in winter and Eastern Daylight Time in summer, so it stays aligned with Miami and New York year-round. Cost of living is materially higher than most other Caribbean or regional nomad bases, driven largely by high import duties on nearly all consumer goods. One-bedroom rentals in Cable Beach or downtown Nassau typically run USD 1,200 to 1,800 per month, with prime beachfront stock higher, dropping to roughly USD 800 to 1,200 in the Family Islands. A simple restaurant meal runs about USD 25 to 40 and a monthly grocery basket for one person around USD 250 to 350. Private healthcare is adequate at Doctors Hospital, a Joint Commission International accredited private facility, and at the public Princess Margaret Hospital, though capacity is limited outside Nassau and Freeport and most expatriates carry international insurance with United States medical evacuation coverage. Two structural risks temper the picture. The Bahamas sits in the Atlantic hurricane belt, with the official season running June through November and peak exposure from August to early October, and although construction in Nassau and Freeport is built to high design wind standards, older Out Island housing is more vulnerable, as Hurricane Dorian showed in 2019 with about USD 3.4 billion of damage on Abaco and Grand Bahama. On personal safety, the United States State Department maintains a Level 2 advisory noting that violent crime can occur anywhere but concentrates in Nassau and Freeport, with the Over-the-Hill district of Nassau the highest-risk area, so the country is not uniformly low-crime. Political stability is nonetheless high, with continuous democratic governance under the Westminster parliamentary system since independence on 10 July 1973.
Last reviewed:
Lucky Nomads editorial note
The Bahamas sits at the cleanest end of the zero-tax spectrum, and its edge over Cayman or the British Virgin Islands (BVI) is not the absence of tax, which all three share, but that Bahamian residence is lived residence rather than a registration shell. That is what matters for a High Net Worth Individual (HNWI) planning an actual relocation, and it is where advisors most often misframe the jurisdiction. The reading is binary: either the client deploys serious capital into qualifying assets for lifetime Economic Permanent Residence (EPR) under section 17A of the Immigration Act, or stays a non-investor on a discretionary annual permit with no automatic bridge to permanent residence. Treating that permit as a soft on-ramp is the structural error, because the two tracks do not connect and a lifetime certificate demands far lighter presence than the naturalisation clock rewards. Two shifts across late 2024 and into 2025 changed the calculation. The Economic Permanent Residence threshold was raised and locked behind a ten-year hold, closing the cheaper entry tiers, so a borderline client should qualify now rather than wait for a window that only narrows. More important structurally, the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT) Act did not create a general corporate income tax, which the Bahamas still lacks, but layered a targeted Pillar Two top-up onto multinational groups with consolidated revenue of at least EUR 750 million, at a 15 percent effective floor for fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2025 and reaching 2024 only where the group is already caught by Pillar Two rules abroad. The number of clients caught is tiny, but the signal is not. The Freeport free zone still shelters groups below the threshold yet is expressly pierced for those above it, and the honest read is that the shield is unlikely to widen again. Plan on the direction, not the current gaps. Against direct Caribbean comparators the Bahamas asks for more upfront but returns firmer formal standing. The Cayman Islands has no lifetime residence-by-investment route below roughly USD 2.4 million in developed real estate, and its lighter twenty-five-year Residency Certificate, about USD 1.2 million on Grand Cayman with some USD 610,000 in real estate, confers no permanent status, though Cayman holds the strongest fund and corporate infrastructure. The British Virgin Islands offers no capital route to permanent residence and rests on long lawful physical residence, whereas Anguilla runs a defined residence-by-investment programme from USD 150,000 into its development fund or USD 750,000 in real estate with no presence requirement. Bermuda sits higher through its Economic Investment Residential Certificate (EIRC) near USD 2.5 million, and Turks and Caicos grants a defined Permanent Residence Certificate by investment, from USD 300,000 for a sister-island home up to USD 1 million on Providenciales, with business routes from USD 750,000, not mere residence by long occupation. Among sizeable lived jurisdictions the Bahamas offers the most accessible lifetime permanent route, undercutting Cayman and Bermuda, while the cheaper Anguilla and sister-island Turks and Caicos tickets buy paper residence or a far smaller base. Its price is a real consumption and conveyance tax load and a treaty network too thin for cross-border flows, which is what disqualifies it for structuring-led mandates. The risk profile is low on political and currency stability and moderate on fiscal and operational friction, along three vectors. First, legislative, because the corporate top-up tax proved the Bahamas will move against a sheltered position under pressure and no statute shields the client from a slow broadening of the base, so a zero-tax plan should be stress-tested against erosion, not assumed permanent. Second, banking, because opening a resident account as a fresh international depositor is slow and documentation-heavy, and that friction is structural, not a passing backlog. Third, the carrying cost of the asset, because the 2025 amendment ties the owner-occupied exemption to more than 90 days of physical presence and the annual tax cap to more than 183 days, so real estate held below those thresholds is taxed at the higher non-owner-occupied rates, an annually taxed holding that drags the effective Internal Rate of Return (IRR) on a decade-long position. Reputationally, exit from the European Union monitoring lists helped, yet the 2022 collapse of the Bahamas-licensed crypto exchange FTX Digital Markets remains an overhang on the jurisdiction's financial reputation. The Bahamas EPR fits a narrow client, a High Net Worth Individual ready to sink seven figures into property held for a decade, who prizes lifetime status over portability and whose real prize is one short flight from the United States rather than a broad treaty web. Hurricane exposure from late summer into autumn is part of the deal and must be underwritten, not wished away. It is wrong for the client chasing corporate-tax neutrality at operational scale, where Cayman or the British Virgin Islands structure more cleanly, and for anyone wanting residency to unlock visa-free European travel, which Bahamian status does not confer. A large operating group below the threshold is better served by the concession regimes than by residence planning. Where the fit fails, the cleaner comparables are Cayman and Bermuda for a higher ticket, Monaco for a net-worth residency inside Europe, and the Swiss lump-sum regime for a treaty-rich base.
Last reviewed:
Published ranks by index
One row per leaderboard we publish (the composite index plus each proprietary dimension). A rank appears only when this country is currently in the published top 10 for that list. Open a row to see the full ranking. Hover an index name for the same short definition as elsewhere on the site.
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Founder, Lucky Nomads · Wealth manager
Researched from official sources, leading global indices and Lucky Nomads' own scoring.
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