{"id":49756,"date":"2025-07-07T09:47:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T09:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/?post_type=legal_developments&p=49756"},"modified":"2025-07-17T15:31:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T15:31:33","slug":"crackdown-by-bahamian-government-on-property-tax-arrears","status":"publish","type":"legal_developments","link":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/thought-leadership\/crackdown-by-bahamian-government-on-property-tax-arrears\/","title":{"rendered":"Crackdown by Bahamian Government on property tax arrears"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Jana Ward, Real Estate Associate, Lennox Paton<\/strong><\/p>\n

Publication Date: June 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Property Owners no longer have the luxury of neglecting to pay their real property taxes for years on end.\u00a0 In an effort to collect more tax revenue and to deter property owners from accumulating significant tax arrears, the Department of Inland Revenue (\u201cDIR\u201d) has more recently sought to enforce its remedy of the power of sale<\/em> under the Real Property Tax Act (\u201cthe Act\u201d).<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The crackdown on delinquent property taxes has intensified, resulting in the listing of several properties for sale and being sold by public auction to the highest bidder.<\/p>\n

The Power of Sale<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Treasurer of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas (\u201cthe Treasurer\u201d) is empowered under the Act to exercise its power of sale <\/em>to recover outstanding real property taxes.<\/p>\n

A property is at risk for sale once the real property taxes have been in arrears for more than 7 months. Real Property Taxes are due and payable by March 31st<\/sup> <\/strong>of every year.\u00a0 If the property taxes are not paid by October 31st<\/sup><\/strong>, the DIR is empowered to list the property for sale on November 1st<\/sup><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Property Owners are incentivized to promptly settle their real property taxes by March 31st<\/sup><\/strong> each year in order to receive a 10% discount<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Properties at Risk<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n

The following class of properties are subject to <\/u><\/strong>the power of sale<\/em>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Commercial Property owned by Bahamians and Non-Bahamians;<\/li>\n
  2. Residential Property owned by Bahamians and Non-Bahamians;<\/li>\n
  3. Undeveloped Property owned by Non-Bahamians; and<\/li>\n
  4. Owner-Occupied Property owned by Non-Bahamians.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The power of sale<\/em> is not applicable to all properties in The Bahamas.\u00a0 Owner-Occupied Property owned by Bahamians is not subject to the power of sale<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Sale by Public Auction <\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n

    The sale of property by the Treasurer under its power of sale<\/em> must be by public auction.<\/p>\n

    The registered owner of the property must receive at least 30 days\u2019 notice of an appointed sale by advertisement in the daily newspapers. \u00a0The DIR must also provide the listings and information about the scheduled auction on its website.<\/p>\n

    Sealed Bids must be submitted to the Collections Section of the DIR. \u00a0These bids are reviewed and reported to the Chief Valuation Officer and then the highest bidder is notified of the outcome of the auction and they have 30 days from that notification to pay the bid amount to the DIR.<\/p>\n

    If a property receives no bids, it can be re-advertised for sale with the appropriate notices being re-issued.<\/p>\n

    Sale to Highest Bidder<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n

    Property sold under the power of sale<\/em> is conveyed to the highest bidder free from encumbrances and mortgages but will remain subject to any and all restrictive covenants, easements, conditions, exceptions, reservations, service charges and uses which may exist at the time of sale.<\/p>\n

    The Purchaser will receive indefeasible title. This means that the conveyance from the Treasurer will be the root of title and the Purchaser will not be required to deduce title beyond this deed in future transactions.<\/p>\n

    For further information please contact\u00a0<\/em>Jana<\/em> Ward<\/em><\/a> at Lennox Paton by telephone at 242-502-5000 or by email at\u00a0<\/em>jward@lennoxpaton.com<\/em><\/a> .<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-49756","legal_developments","type-legal_developments","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/legal_developments\/49756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/legal_developments"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/legal_developments"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}