Working from Bahamas as a Netherlands resident

At a glance

Rule coverage

What the rules say about Bahamas

The rules below are the ones most likely to shape a stay in Bahamas, in plain words and with the source behind each one. Your own report tells you which of them apply to you.

1. Significant issueImmigration and visa

   Nationalities outside the named visa-free lists need a visa before travel

   The Bahamas keeps entry visa-free for the US, UK, Canada, EU member states, a named list of South and Central American nationalities, and most Commonwealth nationalities. A small named group of Commonwealth nationalities (Pakistan, Cameroon, Mozambique, India, Nigeria, Ghana) is explicitly excluded and needs a visa, and every nationality outside all of these lists needs one too. No e-visa or visa-on-arrival is advertised on the official entry page, visa nationals apply in advance through a British Consulate or Bahamian mission.

2. Significant issueRight to work

   Working for a Bahamian employer needs a separate Work Permit

   Working for a Bahamian employer or serving the local market is a different category entirely from remote work for a foreign employer. It requires a Work Permit, a separate employer-sponsored category, and is not permitted on a visitor entry, BEATS, or a Permit to Reside.

3. Needs checkingPermanent establishment risk

   Signing contracts or managing from the Bahamas can trigger a Business Licence fee

   The Bahamas has no corporate income tax for ordinary companies, so there is no permanent-establishment corporate tax bill waiting here the way there would be in most countries. But businesses operating in the Bahamas do pay an annual Business Licence fee on turnover, roughly 0.5 to 1.25 percent for most businesses, nil or minimal for pure offshore structures. If contract signing or management decisions happen from the Bahamas, your employer could be seen as operating in the Bahamas for this purpose. The real permanent-establishment and tax-residence risk for the employer still sits mainly in its home country, not here.

4. Needs checkingMoving your company

   The real permanent establishment and CFC risk sits in your home country, not here

   The Bahamas will not tax a foreign company you run from here, there is no income tax to trigger. The real permanent establishment and tax-residence risk sits in the company's home country. Moving management and control to the Bahamas can either break home tax residence, which is good if that is what you intend, or leave a taxable permanent establishment or residence behind if done sloppily, this is a home-country analysis, not a Bahamas one. The Bahamas also has no controlled foreign company rules of its own, nothing here to attribute income back to you. But a Bahamas company owned by someone still tax-resident in a CFC-active jurisdiction, such as the Netherlands, Germany, the UK or the US, may have its income attributed back under that country's CFC regime until the owner genuinely emigrates.

5. Needs checkingPersonal income tax

   No double taxation agreement exists with any country, so treaty relief is unavailable

   The Bahamas has no comprehensive double taxation agreement in force with any country. Because it has no income tax, it has no tax treaty network to allocate taxing rights. What does exist is a wave of Tax Information Exchange Agreements signed around 2009 to 2011, a US FATCA Model 1 IGA, and CRS automatic exchange participation, all for information sharing, none of them provide double-tax relief or a 183-day treaty tie-breaker the way a real DTA would.

6. Needs checkingHealthcare coverage

   Visitors and BEATS holders need private medical insurance, there is no public cover

   Temporary visitors and BEATS holders are not in the Bahamas' public healthcare system and must carry private or travel medical insurance, BEATS explicitly requires a medical insurance card at application. Private care in Nassau is the norm for foreigners, with serious cases often air-evacuated to Florida, so insurance with evacuation cover is strongly advisable.

What tends to surprise people here

• No double taxation agreement in force with any country
• No social security totalization agreement with any tracked nationality
• The exact overstay penalty schedule has not been published

Tax treaty between Netherlands and Bahamas