Barbados.

Property Tax

Property tax is assessed for each financial year of the Government of Barbados, which runs from April 1st of the current year to March 31st of the following year.

Land tax bills are issued by mail annually, usually between May 1st and September 30th of each year. The tax bills are required to be paid by March 31st of the following year to avoid a penalty of 5% of the unpaid tax, plus 1% interest per month on the principal and penalty outstanding until the tax is paid.

In Barbados, land in is categorized as follows for property tax purposes:

  1. Vacant land
    • 0.8% of the property value where the area is less than 4,000 sq. ft or 371.6 M2
    • 1.0% on all other vacant lands
  2. Residential property consisting of land with a completed residential structured on the property
    • 0.0% of property valued up to $150,000
    • 0.1% of the amount between $150,001 and $450,000
    • 0.7% of the amount between $450,001 and $850,000
    • 1.0% of the amount in excess of $850,000
    • The maximum tax payable on residential property is $100,000 per annum
  3. Non-residential or commercial property consisting of land and a completed non-residential property located on the property.
    • 0.95% on value of each parcel of land where there is a non-residential building

Land Tax Rebates

Land tax rebates are available as follows:

Pensioners

A pension is entitled to a 60% rebate if this they meet the following requirements:

  1. If they are 60 years of age or over in the tax year
  2. They are in receipt of a pension
  3. They must live in Barbados for at least 6 months of the year
  4. The house must be used exclusively as their permanent resident. This means that they may not have any tenants nor operate a business from that property

Agricultural Land

A rebate of 50% is available for agricultural land if the following criteria are met:

  1. Registered with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management
  2. The land or property must be used mainly or exclusively for agricultural purposes which is defined as:
    • Cultivation of the land for the purpose of selling produce
    • Rearing animals or poultry the sale of their agricultural produce
    • The keeping of bees for the purpose of selling honey

Hotels

Hotel owners are entitled 50% rebate of the tax assessed on a qualified hotel property.

Villas

A 25% rebate is available to villa owners under the following criteria:

  1. The property has least three (3) bedrooms and is valued at $525,000 or more
  2. Managed by a local company or real estate agent,
  3. Employs at least three (3) persons
  4. Registered with the Barbados Tourism Product Authority
  5. Available for rent for at least nine (9) months in every year