Moving to the Bahamas in 2026: zero tax, residency through real estate and an island setting

The Bahamas has never introduced personal income tax. The list of levies administered by the Department of Inland Revenue bears this out: value added tax, business licence, real property tax and stamp duty, with no heading devoted to income.

We do not publish the Bahamian value added tax rate, the real property tax bands or the stamp duty applicable to property transfers: they do not appear in the official sources we have been able to consult and verify. Yet these are the levies that genuinely weigh on a resident, and they must be checked with the Department of Inland Revenue.

This gap is all the more worth flagging because the country's selling point — the absence of income tax — masks real indirect taxation. A resident household pays consumption tax on most of its spending, in a country where almost everything is imported, as well as an annual real property tax on its home.

Companies

The Bahamas does not tax corporate profits: the applicable rate is 0%², with only the business licence, based on turnover, being payable.

An exception has been introduced. The domestic minimum top-up tax applies to multinational groups whose consolidated turnover reaches the threshold set by international rules, in order to guarantee a minimum level of taxation. Small entities are expressly excluded.

This legislation marks a break. The Bahamas long based its model on the total absence of taxation on profits; it has now written a profits tax into its law, even if confined to very large groups. This is the direction taken by all comparable jurisdictions.

For a French national, the rule remains: the absence of local tax does not end French tax domicile. As long as the household or the centre of economic interests remains in France, Article 4 B of the French General Tax Code (code général des impôts) applies, and the Bahamas has not concluded a double taxation treaty with France that would make it possible to set this effect aside.

Long-term residence in the Bahamas mainly goes through permanent residence, which the Department of Immigration grants in particular on the basis of an investment.

So-called economic permanent residence requires a minimum investment of from $1,000,000³, or approximately about €1,000,000⁴, made either in real estate or through the purchase of zero-coupon bonds issued by the Central Bank of the Bahamas.

In both cases, the asset must be held for a minimum period of from 10 years⁵. This holding condition is the point most often left out of sales presentations: it ties up the capital for an entire decade.

The threshold was also raised on 1 January 2025; it previously stood at a markedly lower level. Documentation predating this change is therefore out of date, which calls for systematic checking of the date of the sources consulted.

A separate route exists for homeowners: the government states that buying a residence worth at least $1,500,000⁶ opens up accelerated consideration of the application. This is processing priority, not an automatic right.

The permanent residence certificate grants the right to reside and, depending on the terms granted, to work. This is a notable difference from residency by investment schemes that exclude access to the local labour market.

Bahamian application fees, charges payable and processing times do not appear in the sources we have been able to consult: we do not quantify them.

Purchases by foreigners are permitted and regulated by the legislation on international investment. Buying a residence must be registered with the relevant board, and prior approval is required above certain land areas or for rental use.

The market is highly segmented geographically. New Providence, home to Nassau, and Paradise Island account for most of the liquidity; Grand Bahama follows its own path; the outer islands are narrow markets where resale can take years.

Two risks dominate and must be costed before buying. First, hurricane risk, which makes insurance expensive and sometimes hard to obtain depending on the property's construction and exposure; Hurricane Dorian demonstrated in 2019 the possible scale of destruction. Second, maintenance costs, which are high in a marine, island environment.

Finally, the chain of title calls for particular attention. Some islands have old titles, sometimes held jointly by heirs, which take a long time to regularise. Local advice independent of the seller is essential.

We do not publish Bahamian stamp duty, real property tax rates or the prior approval thresholds for foreign buyers: they do not appear in our extracts.

The Bahamas is among the most expensive destinations in the region. The archipelago imports almost everything it consumes, and the price of food, energy and durable goods directly reflects this.

We do not publish a typical monthly budget: we have not found an official Bahamian series measuring a basket of expenses comparable to an expatriate's.

The Bahamian dollar is pegged at par to the US dollar, which removes exchange-rate risk for a budget in dollars and makes prices immediately readable for an international buyer.

Four items shape a budget. Electricity, whose island cost is far above European levels. Home insurance, made more expensive by hurricane risk. Healthcare, mostly private and costly, with evacuations to Florida for major procedures. And international schooling, concentrated in Nassau.

The absence of income tax must therefore be weighed against these running costs. For substantial wealth and high incomes, the trade-off remains favourable; for an average income, the tax saving is largely absorbed by the cost of living.

1. Choose the route: economic permanent residence, or purchase of a residence opening up accelerated consideration;
2. check the date of the documentation consulted, as the investment threshold was raised on 1 January 2025;
3. build the from 10 years⁵ holding period into the financing plan: the capital is tied up;
4. get a quote for insuring the property before making an offer, as hurricane risk can make it expensive or hard to obtain;
5. handle the departure from France according to its own criteria, as there is no France–Bahamas tax treaty.

The last point has the heaviest consequences. Without a double taxation treaty, no treaty mechanism exists to decide between France and the Bahamas in the event of dual residence: the only protection lies in an effective, documented severing of ties with France.

• The absence of income tax is real, but indirect and property taxation weighs on a resident.
• Corporate profits are not taxed — 0%² — except for multinational groups falling within the scope of the minimum top-up tax.
• The from $1,000,000³ investment must be held for from 10 years⁵: this is the condition most often passed over in silence.
• The threshold was raised on 1 January 2025: earlier documentation is out of date.
• There is no tax treaty between France and the Bahamas: nothing exists to resolve dual residence.

Finally, the Bahamas belongs to a particular category: destinations where the tax advantage is genuine but where the entry cost, running costs and climate exposure confine the scheme to substantial estates. The country suits those who have significant capital, are willing to tie it up for a decade and have severed their ties with France in an indisputable way. It does not suit a gradual or reversible move, which neither the amount required nor the absence of a tax treaty allows one to contemplate with confidence.