Barbados

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Overview

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Identifiers

Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Barbados and submit them as strings on the application body. Tax ID: 13-digit numeric identifier issued by the BRA upon registration through the Tax Administration Management Information System (TAMIS). Applies equally to companies and individuals. The same TIN serves as the VAT registration number for businesses registered for VAT. Issued under the Income Tax Act Cap. 73 and Value Added Tax Act Cap. 87. First digit is always ‘1’; remainder is randomly generated — no embedded checksum. Registration number: Sequential numeric identifier assigned by CAIPO at incorporation under the Companies Act Cap. 308. Appears on the Certificate of Incorporation and all post-incorporation filings. No fixed-length or prefix standard has been publicly confirmed; format appears as a plain integer assigned in sequence.

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Sector regulators

Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) · Financial Services Commission (FSC) · Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) / Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)

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Legal structures

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How documents combine

For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.

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Documents to collect

The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed. Not applicable in Barbados: Operating Permit. Skip these areas — no local artifact exists.

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Collection notes

• Legal Registration: Issued by CAIPO under the Companies Act Cap. 308 (s.404); conclusive proof of incorporation; contains company name, registration number, date of incorporation, and company type. SRLs receive a Registrar’s Certificate under the Societies with Restricted Liability Act Cap. 318B. External companies receive a Certificate of Registration. All issued on CAIPO headed paper and sealed by the Registrar.
• Constitutive Documents: Under the Companies Act Cap. 308, incorporators file Articles of Incorporation (Form 1) with CAIPO; separate By-laws govern internal management and are adopted by the directors at or after incorporation. Both documents must be kept at the registered office. For SRLs the constitutive document filed with CAIPO is the Application for Registration accompanied by the SRL’s by-laws. Articles may be amended by filing Articles of Amendment.
• Tax Registration: The BRA issues a TIN registration confirmation upon registration through TAMIS (tamis.bra.gov.bb). Businesses making taxable supplies exceeding BBD 200,000 per year must register for VAT and receive a VAT Registration Certificate bearing their 13-digit TIN. Companies subject to the Companies (Economic Substance) Act 2019-43 conducting ‘relevant activities’ must also file an annual substance declaration with the International Business Unit.
• Sector-Specific License: Central Bank of Barbados (CBB): banks, credit institutions, and payment service providers licensed under the Financial Institutions Act Cap. 324A and the National Payment Systems Act (NPSA); CBB is sole regulator for deposit-taking and payment systems. Financial Services Commission (FSC): non-bank financial institutions licensed under the Insurance Act Cap. 310 (Class 1/2/3 insurer licences), Securities Act (broker-dealers, investment advisors, dealers, underwriters, mutual fund administrators), Mutual Funds Act, and Occupational Pension Benefits Act. Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA)/FIU: supervises AML/CFT compliance for all financial institutions.
• Governance Records: Each company under the Companies Act Cap. 308 must maintain a Register of Directors; directors are also listed in the Notice of Directors filed with CAIPO at incorporation and updated on any change. SRLs maintain a Register of Managers. Annual Returns filed with CAIPO confirm the current list of directors/managers. These filings are accessible at CAIPO but the full register is not a publicly searchable online database.
• Signing Authority: No statutory prescribed form. A board resolution on company letterhead — signed by the directors and certified by the secretary — is the standard instrument authorizing a named signatory to act. A notarized Power of Attorney is used where the authority is delegated externally. SRLs use a Manager’s Resolution in equivalent form.
• Address: No statutory prescribed form for KYB address verification. Standard practice: lease agreement (no time limit) OR utility bill OR bank statement, with utility/bank statements dated within 90 days of submission. Utility providers include Barbados Light and Power (BL&P) and Barbados Water Authority (BWA). The document must show the company’s registered or principal operating address in Barbados.
• Good Standing: Issued by CAIPO (Registrar of Companies) and authenticated by the Barbados Notary Public; confirms: (1) the company is validly existing at the Register of Companies; (2) all fees and penalties due have been paid; (3) the company is not in the process of being wound up, dissolved, or struck off. Ordered directly from CAIPO; commonly also apostilled for international use. An equivalent Registrar’s Certificate is issued for SRLs.

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Person roles

When you submit a person on the application body, set their role to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.

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Notes

• The IBC (International Business Company) structure was abolished effective 31 December 2018 as part of Barbados’ OECD/EU BEPS compliance reforms. No new IBCs may be formed; existing IBCs were transitioned to regular RBCs (Regular Barbados Companies). Conduit will encounter RBCs and SRLs — not IBCs — for new formations.
• The Companies (Economic Substance) Act 2019-43 requires entities conducting ‘relevant activities’ (banking, insurance, fund management, IP, shipping, HQ, financing and leasing) to demonstrate real economic substance in Barbados from 1 January 2019; annual substance declarations are filed with the International Business Unit. A Foreign Currency Permit (FCP) is the key instrument for international businesses. RBCs and SRLs earning 100% of income in foreign currency may obtain an FCP from the Central Bank under the Foreign Currency Permits Act, 2025-5 (in force March 2025, replacing the prior FCP framework), qualifying for a 5.5% corporate tax rate, exemption from exchange controls, reduced stamp duty, and — for service-sector FCP holders — duty-free importation of plant, machinery, and equipment. The 2025 Act also extended FCP eligibility to external companies and trustees. The FCP is not a registration document but affects entity structuring.
• The Companies (Economic Substance) Act 2019-43 requires entities conducting ‘relevant activities’ (banking, insurance, fund management, IP, shipping, HQ, financing and leasing) to demonstrate real economic substance in Barbados from 1 January 2019; annual substance declarations are filed with the International Business Unit.
• Barbados is a CARICOM member state and signatory to the OECD/G20 BEPS minimum standards. It was removed from the OECD’s ‘harmful tax practices’ list in February 2023 following reforms. Effective 1 January 2024, Barbados enacted a flat 9% corporate income tax rate for most companies (Income Tax (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2024), replacing the prior tiered 5.5%-1% progressive structure. Barbados also enacted the Corporation Top-up Tax Act, 2024-16, establishing a conditional Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) at 15% effective 1 January 2024 for constituent entities of MNE groups with EUR 750 million+ consolidated revenue, applicable only where the group is subject to an IIR or UTPR in another jurisdiction. No IIR or UTPR was enacted domestically. The OECD’s January 2025 Central Record of Legislation confirms Barbados’s DMTT has transitional qualified status. In-scope entities register and file under their existing BRA TAMIS TIN — no separate Pillar Two registration number is issued.
• The Companies Act Cap. 308 is modelled on the Canadian Business Corporations Act (not the UK Companies Act); constitutive documents are called ‘Articles of Incorporation’ (not a Memorandum and Articles of Association), and internal governance rules are contained in ‘By-laws’ rather than Articles of Association.
• CAIPO officially completed its transition to Business Barbados in September 2025. The registry is now operated under the Business Barbados brand; caipo.gov.bb resolves to the Business Barbados portal. Certificates of Incorporation and other registry documents issued since September 2025 carry the Business Barbados name. Historical documents predating the transition retain the CAIPO name and remain valid.