Real Property Tax Amnesty Program

April 22, 2013

bulletin header image The Government of the Bahamas has initiated a new Real Property Tax Amnesty Program which took effect on March 1, 2013. The purpose of this initiative is to allow property owners the opportunity to have their property assessed without any penalties. In addition, this initiative allows property owners to bring their accounts current with opportunities available for significant savings.

What is Real Property Tax?

Real Property Tax is an annual fee levied on owners of land in the Bahamas. This tax is payable by all land owners, Bahamians or non-Bahamians. It must be noted that there are two exceptions to this rule:

All vacant Bahamian-owned land is not subject to the payment of real property tax. All Bahamian owners of residential property under the value of $250,000 are exempted from payment of Real Property Tax in respect of their property. On the other hand, all non-Bahamian owners of land in the Bahamas must pay Real Property Taxes whether their land is developed or not.

All properties in the “Port Area” on the Island of Grand Bahama is not subject to payment of Real Property Tax. However, all owners of land in the “Port Area” must pay an Annual Service Charge to the Grand Bahama Port Authority in respect of any property which they own in the “Port Area” whether it is developed or not.

Real Property Tax Rates

Market Value of Property	Real Property Tax Payable
The first $250,000	Exempt
$250,000 – $500,000	0.75%
$500,000 – $5 Million	1% (maximum of 50,000)

NB. Where the market value of the property exceeds $5million, the Real Property Tax will not exceed $50,000 per annum.

Amnesty Order

1. For properties already on the assessment register, on which back taxes are owed, the Government is offering to reduce existing bills as follows:

a) If no more than three years of payment arrears exists, half of the total taxes owed will be waived, provided the full payment is made by June 30, 2013;

b) If more than three years of arrears exist, one hundred percent of the interest penalties only will be waived provided full payment is made by December 31, 2013.

2. Property owners who are already current with their bills will automatically receive a five percent rebate off their assessments for each of the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 once they maintain their accounts current over each of these years.

3. To encourage self-registration, owners of residential and commercial properties, who are currently not on the assessment list shall be exempted from payment of taxes in respect of the years prior to 2013, provided they register their properties with the Business License/Real Property Tax (Valuation Unit) of the Ministry of Finance on or before June 30, 2013.

To have an assessment conducted on your property you will need to submit the following to the Real Property Tax Unit:

a) Copy of a Conveyance

b) Completed Declaration Form

c) Survey Plan (if available)

d) Completed Affirmation Form (Residential Property)

e) Appraisal Report (If available)

Deadline for Amnesty Program

Deadline date for first time assessments is June 30, 2013. Deadline date for 50% waiver on accounts not exceeding three years is June 30, 2013, and dead line for accounts in arrears exceeding three years with accumulated surcharges is December 31.