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When you need a Bahamian company that can sign a contract this week, a ready-made shelf company, an off-the-shelf Bahamas International Business Company (IBC), is the fastest legal route into one of the Caribbean’s most established offshore jurisdictions. ShelfCompanies24 maintains a live inventory of clean, never-traded Bahamian IBCs registered with the Registrar General’s Department, with paid-up share capital, registered agent, and a clean Economic Substance compliance record. Most transfers complete in 3 to 7 working days.
The Bahamas combines no corporate income tax, English common-law tradition, financial-services depth (the Bahamas hosts ~250 banks and trust companies), and the Commercial Entities (Substance Requirements) Act 2018 for OECD-aligned ES compliance. Particularly suitable for international holding, asset-protection and trust-structure vehicles.
Our service covers IBC, Registrar General filings, registered agent, Economic Substance assessment.
Off-the-shelf IBC + registered agent + Bahamian banking introduction + ES compliance bundled.
Most transfers within 3 to 7 working days. English-speaking case manager.
IBC transfers do not require notarisation. Sign electronically; we file with the Registrar General without your physical presence.
We file director-change forms, share-transfer documentation, registered-agent amendments, and ES Reporting.
A Bahamian off-the-shelf IBC is incorporated by a registered agent purely to be transferred to a future buyer. From incorporation to sale, the IBC has:
| Feature | IBC | ICON | Bahamas Foundation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum capital | None statutory | None | None statutory |
| Members | 1+ shareholders | Multiple participants per condominium | Founder + beneficiaries |
| Best fit | ~95% of buyers, international holding, trade, IP | Investment-fund / private-portfolio vehicles | Private wealth, succession |
Bahamian IBCs pay no corporate income tax in the Bahamas. Tax position elsewhere depends on management and control jurisdiction.
The Bahamas has been a leading offshore jurisdiction since the 1960s. The IBC was introduced in 1989 and has been regularly modernised. Combined with the Bahamas’ financial-services depth (~250 banks and trust companies), the IBC is a globally-recognised holding vehicle.
The Commercial Entities (Substance Requirements) Act 2018 brings Bahamas IBCs into OECD-aligned compliance. Pure holding entities have a reduced ES requirement.
Every Bahamian ready-made IBC carries an active company number and clean Registry record at the Registrar General’s Department in Nassau.
The Bahamas hosts major international banks: Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, Citibank Bahamas, plus offshore-focused private banks. Banking onboarding is rigorous post-2018 reforms.
Buying a ready-made company in the Bahamas is a share purchase, not an incorporation. The IBC already exists at the Registrar General’s Department with its own company number, its Bahamian-licensed registered agent and a filing history that shows nothing but dormancy. You pick an entity from the live inventory, we complete KYC and AML on you and any other beneficial owner, and the outgoing holder executes a written share-transfer instrument, which for Bahamian IBCs needs no notarisation. Director resignations and appointments are filed with the Registrar General, the registered agent, registered office and articles are amended where you want them changed, the Beneficial Ownership Register is updated in your name, and the Economic Substance pathway is assessed against what you actually intend to do. Most transfers complete in 3 to 7 working days from KYC sign-off, and a name change is made by directors’ resolution and a routine filing that typically clears in 48 hours. The seven steps below are that sequence in detail.
Our Bahamian stock carries honest incorporation dates ranging from a few months to several years, and because the Registry record is public and immutable nothing can be, or should be, backdated. Age helps in narrow ways: a counterparty or a tender that insists on an established legal entity, or a bank whose risk model reads a longer filing history as lower risk. It buys nothing on tax, since an IBC pays no corporate income tax in the Bahamas whatever its age. What matters more is that the company has never traded, never employed anyone, never invoiced a third party and never opened an operational bank account beyond the share-capital deposit, which is what the documented dormancy declaration in the handover pack records.
Live inventory: Bahamian IBCs of various ages registered through our partner agents in Nassau and Freeport.
Bahamas AML is rigorous. Comprehensive KYC including apostilled passport copies, source-of-funds documentation, business-purpose dossier.
Bahamas IBC share transfers are effected by written instrument; no notarisation required.
Outgoing directors resign; incoming directors appointed. Filed with the Registrar General.
Registered agent (Bahamian-licensed) and registered office can be amended. Articles by special resolution.
We assess ES compliance pathway based on intended activity.
The Bahamas records beneficial ownership, but there is no public register. Under the Register of Beneficial Ownership Act 2018 each licensed registered agent keeps a database for the entities it administers, and the data is reached only through a secure search system that officers designated by the Attorney General operate for prescribed authorities. The reporting threshold is ten per cent, not twenty five, and a 2025 amendment brings nominee arrangements expressly within the rules.
| Tax | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate income tax | 0% | No CIT in the Bahamas |
| Withholding tax | 0% | No withholding |
| Capital gains tax | 0% | None |
| VAT | 10% standard | Goods and services VAT introduced 2015; certain exemptions |
| Annual government filings | Due for most IBCs | Set by the Registrar General, scales with authorised capital |
| Economic Substance | Compliance regime since 2018 | Relevant-activity entities require Bahamas substance |
| Pillar Two | Not implemented in the Bahamas | Multinational IBCs face Pillar Two at parent jurisdiction |
No, and treat any provider who promises one with caution. The transfer of the company and the opening of a corporate account are two separate approvals: the Registrar General records the change of ownership, while the bank runs its own KYC, source-of-funds and beneficial-owner review on its own timetable. A banking introduction is included with every transfer, and a shelf IBC with documented dormancy usually onboards more smoothly than a brand-new entity because the bank’s risk-rating model treats it as lower risk.
Because the entity was incorporated by our partner agent for no purpose other than to be held, and the Registry record shows exactly that: an active company number, the annual filings required of any IBC, Economic Substance Reporting where applicable, and nothing else. The handover pack includes a documented dormancy declaration covering the whole period the company sat in stock, and the share-transfer paper trail is filed with the Registrar General the same day, which is what a bank’s compliance team looks for.
3 to 7 working days from complete KYC to Registrar General notification, and you can sign contracts in the company’s name as soon as the share-transfer instrument is executed. What sets the pace is your documentation rather than the Registry: certified passport copies, proof of address, a source-of-funds statement and a short business-purpose note for every beneficial owner. A name change, if you want one, is filed by directors’ resolution and typically clears in 48 hours.
None in the Bahamas. The 10% Bahamas VAT applies to in-jurisdiction goods/services consumption, not to IBC operating profits earned abroad.
No. The share-transfer instrument is executed in writing and Bahamian IBC transfers require no notarisation, so buyers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada or the Gulf sign electronically and courier apostilled passport copies from home. Our registered agents in Nassau and Freeport make the Registrar General filings on your behalf. The one exception sits on the banking side, where some banks still ask a director for a video or in-person meeting before the account is activated.
Bahamas ES under the Commercial Entities (Substance Requirements) Act 2018 applies to relevant-activity entities. Pure holding entities have a reduced requirement. We assess and structure compliance.
Want today’s Bahamas inventory? Contact our Bahamas desk.
Bahamas is one of several jurisdictions where ShelfCompanies24 maintains pre-formed entities and active formation services. Why pick Bahamas for your IBC specifically? No income/corporate tax, USD economy is the headline reason, but it pays to understand the trade-offs against the alternatives. Below are concrete differentiators that matter when you are weighing a structure decision against the actual operating profile of your business.
Cross-border corporate structuring in 2026 is governed by a tighter web of rules than in any previous decade. Three forces shape every decision:
For Bahamas specifically: 0% on offshore; Pillar Two QDMTT from 2024 for groups with consolidated revenue above EUR 750 million; Economic Substance Act 2018; USD-pegged.
Issues we routinely see when prospects come to us after attempting the process directly with local providers in Bahamas:
Yes. A name change is filed with the RGD via a directors’ resolution and a routine filing, typically clears in 48 hours. We include up to one name change as standard for both shelf-company purchase and new formation.
No. The Bahamas charges no income tax on companies, so it has no comprehensive double taxation agreements at all, and none with EU or EEA states. What exists is a set of tax information exchange agreements, including the one with the United Kingdom, alongside the common reporting standard. Those instruments help authorities exchange information; they do not reduce withholding tax abroad. Treaty relief is therefore not part of the Bahamian proposition, and the EU directives do not apply.
Client information is held under contractual non-disclosure plus the professional-secrecy obligations applicable to corporate-service providers in our home jurisdiction. We do not share client identity or transaction details with third parties beyond what is statutorily required (KYC reporting, beneficial-owner-register filings, AML/CTF reporting where triggered). Our internal access to client files is logged and access-restricted by need-to-know.
Material tax changes (rate moves, new minimum-tax regimes, treaty amendments) get communicated to active clients with our analysis of impact. Where the change is structural, for example the OECD Pillar Two implementation in Bahamas or a domestic tax-base reform, we proactively flag clients whose structures may need restructuring and set out the remedial steps. The client is not left to discover material regulatory change from their accountant or from media reports.
No, and you should not engage anyone who claims otherwise. The Bahamas Registrar General’s Department (RGD) records the actual incorporation date, which is publicly searchable and immutable. The shelf IBCs we offer have honest incorporation dates ranging from a few months to several years old; for buyers who want a longer corporate trading history, we recommend purchase rather than fabrication, since fabricated history would expose you to fraud, tax-evasion, and money-laundering charges in any reputable jurisdiction.
Engaging us for your Bahamian shelf IBC purchase covers the following deliverables under one service:
The deliverable scope is identical regardless of whether you are based in the EU, the US, the UK, the Middle East, or APAC, we operate the same service globally for Bahamian corporate setup. Optional add-ons (virtual office, accounting retainer, payroll, sector licences, transfer-pricing documentation) are scoped separately, so the incorporation or transfer work stays exactly as agreed.