I received an email from one of our H.G. Christie agents, Dwayne Wallas, asking me to submit his thoughts on the state of the real estate taxes in the Bahamas to our blog. Read on to get his take on the matter:
“In the past, the government’s revenue generation from Stamp Tax has rivalled the income generated by the import duties on automobiles (which has duty rates from 60% to 85%). By raising the annual Real Property Tax assessments, the Bahamas Government is discouraging potential homebuyers. With the world economy as it is, this could be considered by some to be a foolish move. If anything, the government should be encouraging real estate sales by reducing the holding costs of a real estate investment in the Bahamas. It would be interesting to find out if, historically, the government generated more revenue in a single year from Stamp Tax on real estate sales, or from the annual Real Property Tax. Indeed, it is a far easier and more efficient method of collecting revenue.
My esteemed colleagues, Larry and Chris Roberts, have conducted extensive research on the Property Tax rates around the Caribbean and discovered that the Bahamas’ rates are among the highest in the region. However, the fact that the Bahamas has a lion’s share of the foreign real estate investment market in the Caribbean, despite high property tax rates, must be a testament to the desirability and durability of our real estate product. Perhaps the success of our vacation rental market is one of the contributing factors. We just need to continue to work on maintaining that market share, by increasing the attractiveness of the country as an investment and vacation destination.”
Thanks again Dwayne for some great input!