News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. June 18, 2021: Doing business in the US has seen some challenges considering recent changes to policies implemented by President Joe Biden. Our region cannot help but wonder if European nations like Hungary and Cyprus will come to our rescue by rejecting a fixed corporate tax rate at an EU level, or whether they will float along with the G7 agenda. It is something that will certainly affect investment in this region of the world.
Although larger corporations are those who will perhaps be hardest hit by the newest tax reforms, smaller businesses may also start seeing an influx of change coming their way as Biden’s presidency progresses. Amid the surge of the pandemic, business closure increased significantly, and recent economic outlooks have revealed more and more American business owners are looking to move their interests offshore.
The latest news has revealed that Caribbean business formation is quickly becoming an attractive option for many business owners. Those who’ve struggled to keep business afloat, while also dealing with tightening tax reforms, and challenging buyer markets have started to look towards the Caribbean for solutions. There are ample reasons why the Caribbean is a suitable choice for business formation. The World Bank’s Doing Business report revealed that Caribbean countries are making it a lot easier for foreigners, or in this case Americans, to start a business.
Easing the process and allowing for an increase of new business formations has seen some Caribbean economies boom in recent years. Moreover, some Caribbean countries have now changed and reformed business legislation in certain areas, making it a lot more affordable and attractive for entrepreneurs and start-up capitalists. In Jamaica, the island nation scored a 97.4 out of 100, on the ease of doing business ranking in 2020 according to The World Bank. 11 out of 16 Caribbean countries have made significant changes to business reform, and legislation in the last 2 to 5 years alone, with Puerto Rico and Jamaica being the most progressive.
In Barbados, the introduction of three new major business and development reforms has made it now easier for new warehouses to be connected to an electrical grid. These changes and implementations are pulling in larger businesses, and distribution services, as the country’s government is making the effort to resolve past issues and look towards reshaping the economy. On the other hand, Belize has rapidly made changes to risk-management systems, allowing for less intrusive inspections, shortening the clearance process for imports and exports, moving down from 48 hours to only 30 hours for import border requirements.
Over in the Bahamas, the country has seen the most business-facilitating implementations in the last few years. Local government efforts managed to cut the time needed to register a new business to just 11.5 days. Entrepreneurs and small business owners are invited to enjoy faster business formation processing, cost reductions, and value-added tax benefits. Compared between Jamaica, and the Bahamas, these two nations, with Puerto Rico on the threshold are seeing the most changes in business structure reform.
There has been an escalating trend of various industries making their way towards the Caribbean. Yes, in the past, agriculture, hospitality, trade, and tourism were some of the most lucrative business ideas. Today, this trend has made some significant changes, as some locals are seeing an influx of advanced industries; tech, crypto, fintech, software, electrical deployment, and similar making their way to urban city centres.
Benefits of starting a business, or perhaps moving your business to the Caribbean are seemingly more attractive than years prior. The ease of set up, lower business taxes, shorter waiting periods for registration, and being more affordable are just some of the perks. Although these business perks are the key components that’s pulling in more business owners and entrepreneurs – the relaxed lifestyle of the Caribbean is looking more and more appealing for Americans.
The lifestyle in the Caribbean may vary from island to island, but in many instances, a relaxed environment, and smaller neighbourhoods have managed to see more Americans flock towards the Caribbean to permanently call it their home. The community-driven aspect of some Caribbean nations has made it a lot easier for Americans to adapt, find homes, work, and become integrated.
The Caribbean is a community that is now becoming an escape route for many small and medium-sized business owners in America. With many looking for new ventures, or ways to make their business financially viable, new tax reforms and rapid changes affecting all in the U.S. economy under the Biden Administration may cause an influx towards Caribbean business formations in the next few years.
