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There are about 700 islands in the Bahamian chain and only thirty of them are inhabited. There are over 350 banks operating in the Bahamas, including most of the major banks in the world. About 95% of all banking transactions carried out here include international transactions for non-residents. Bahamian banking secrecy is tightly controlled by the government and commercial organizations that depend on them to maintain their viability. There are no currency restrictions or restrictions on the exchange of foreign currency that can easily be imported or exported from the country. It is quite simple to register offshore companies in the Bahamas.
The Bahamas is a place where registration of offshore companies of any type is possible: from Corporation and Aktiengesellschaft to Limited and Company. Compared to other offshore zones, this activity simply thrives in the Bahamas. When registering an offshore company, a huge variety of services are offered here.
A distinctive feature of the registration of an offshore company in the Bahamas can be called the mark "International Business Company" (IBC), which each new company receives. Moreover, its status is defined as a limited liability company.
IBC is exempt from the Bahamas control over foreign exchange transactions, from stamp duty and other taxes and duties, including on real estate, for 20 years from the date of registration. such companies must provide passports, addresses and names of directors and beneficiaries to the registrar of the general department. There are no requirements for maintaining and filing reports.
Advantages:
- no corporate income tax;
- no personal income tax;
- lack of agreements on the exchange of information;
- low cost of annual maintenance.
The owner of such a company is prohibited from buying anything in property, going through insurance procedures in the Bahamas, or participating in the activities of local banks. Only those purchases that are necessary for the maintenance of the office are allowed. Of course, the owner of a Bahamian offshore company can engage in entrepreneurial activity, but not in the Bahamas, but beyond.
An offshore company is allowed to open a bank account, seek the help of lawyers, archive various financial statements in the office, and also collect shareholders and directors in its company for various meetings. These company representatives can purchase shares in other companies, as well as distribute the registered shares of their offshore company in the Bahamas. Shares should only be registered, and they can be distributed for money, and not in exchange for some kind of property. A Bahamian offshore company cannot issue bearer shares.
To register an offshore company in the Bahamas, you need to obtain various licenses in the Bahamas, draw up a charter and memorandum of association, which is then sent to the registration company or Companies House. At the same time, the size of the authorized capital is not stipulated during registration, but directly affects the size of the annual license. As a rule, for capital exceeding $ 50,000, a license of $ 1,000 is charged, in other cases it is $ 350.
An offshore company in the Bahamas must have at least one director who is also allowed to own shares in that company, i.e. be a shareholder. Participants of an offshore company can act both as individuals and as legal entities. If you are registering an offshore company in the Bahamas, then it is imperative to register an office and an agent for it permanently located in the Bahamas.
The register of shareholders and the minutes of the meetings of the participants of the offshore company must be in the internal archive of the enterprise. However, meetings of shareholders and directors are optional. And if this is nevertheless necessary, then the meeting can be organized anywhere in the world. Like regular companies, the offshore must have a seal approved by the owners of the company. It is kept at the office of the offshore company along with various documents that may be available to shareholders.
The advantage of registering an offshore company in the Bahamas is that there is no need to submit a financial report, which in Russia is customary to submit on a quarterly basis. But at the same time, care must be taken to regularly pay the registration fee for the company. Otherwise, after a year of non-payment, the offshore is removed from the register of the Bahamas.
After that, the offshore company cannot carry out further activities, as well as use registered bank accounts. At the same time, all members of the company must be responsible for all debts and other obligations. If such a company pays all the necessary duties within five years, then in the near future it will be restored without any problems. In five years, it is possible to restore an offshore company in the Bahamas only with the permission of a local court, and its decision may not always be positive.
There is no control over the financial flows of offshore companies in the Bahamas, since taxes are not levied here. At the same time, a person who does not have a residence permit can register an offshore company.
