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Why the Bahamas is currently such an expensive place to live (thread 
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In the 1990s the Bahamas became known globally as a tax haven after legislation passed allowing the inclusion of offshore corporations and international business companies
As it stands, the Bahamas is one of the most preferred tax haven destinations for for European and American millionaires/billionaires - we provide offshore banking, registration of offshore companies, registration of ships, and offshore trust management
In the Bahamas, the taxes set in place are property tax which is capped at 1%, VAT which is set to 12%, and customs duty which varies in percentages depending on the goods imported
What this means is that there is no tax liability for offshore companies or the individual offshore bank account holders on income earned. However, this creates an incentive for offshore companies to help the government increase the job opportunities for citizens.
That being said, the government must find a way to make some sort of income/revenue. How? By taxing the citizens through the previously mentioned forms (VAT, customs, property) while millionaires/billionaires use the country as a tax haven
With the increase in taxes on citizens, businesses would lean towards increasing prices on goods sold in stores for the sake of maintaining a profit while covering the operating costs of running a business
With the general increase in prices on goods and services, accompanied by the minimum wage not changing from being $5.25/hr since 2002 (when it was first implemented), the Bahamas has made its way to being one of the top 10 countries with the highest standard of living
