Prime Minister wants low tax rates

Good news for Bahamas real estate and home owners.
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham wants to achieve a low real property tax rate. He says this can happen if all property owners declare the real value of their homes and other real estate in the Bahamas, and pay their taxes.
There's a whopping $296.4 million in outstanding taxes and surcharges owed on commercial real estate.
Mr. Ingraham says his government will become markedly stringent in collecting government revenue and Bahamas real property tax is a high priority. He made his remarks during the Budget debate in Parliament.
The government is amending the law to improve tax collection, reduce the tax burden on certain properties and encourage the development of land owned by non-Bahamians.
The amount owed for owner-occupied homes valued at over $250,000 is $48.6 million. And more than $105 million is owed on taxes and surcharges on vacant land.
The outstanding surcharges accrued on owner occupied homes valued at or below $250,000 will be written off, retroactive to 1994, Mr. Ingraham told Parliament.
The outstanding debt must be paid within six months of the amendment being signed into law, or a surcharge of five percent per year will be charged.
And the tax on the first $250,000 of the value of the home will be automatically waived.
The tax on vacant non-Bahamian-owned real estate in the Bahamas valued up to $7,000 will be $100 a year. Land valued at over $7,000 will attract a 1.5 percent tax rate.
A tax of one percent will be charged on Bahamas real estate valued up to $7.5 million over the $250,000 exemption level. And homes valued at over $7.5 million will be charged 0.25 percent, down from one percent.