Window and ‘Take Away’ Liquor Sales To Be Banned

Selling alcohol from window “cages” and “take away restaurants” will be banned from January 1, 2026, under the Budget’s Business Licence reforms, the Government’s tax chief warned.

Shunda Strachan, the Department of Inland Revenue’s controller, asserting that there will be “no more drive throughs” under the new liquor licensing regime also disclosed that supermarkets, convenience stores and “mobile bars” will not receive permits to sell alcohol. An exception, though, will likely be made for the likes of “party buses” as a legitimate tour business.

Speaking to the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) quarterly directors’ meeting, she effectively voiced doubts as to whether the Department of Inland Revenue has the manpower and resources to take on what she described as another “onerous” regulatory requirement for both the agency and private sector.

Excluding hotel-based restaurants, bars, nightclubs and liquor stores, Ms Strachan revealed that the Department of Inland Revenue will have to police the 2,000 businesses already shown as selling alcohol by their existing Business Licences. She predicted that “there will be amendments, there will be changes” to the new liquor licensing regime in 2026, but said all parties “have to get through this first round”.

The reforms introduced in the Business Licence (Amendment) (No.2) Act 2025 are designed to curb the rapid spread of liquor retailers and wholesalers, plus bars and nightclubs, into residential areas and throughout inner-city New Providence. However, Ms Strachan yesterday revealed that the Act does not apply to Freeport due to the Port Area being covered by the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.

Drive-through locations, where liquor is sold at a window just like fast-food, emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but have attracted complaints over both their number and under-age alcohol consumption. “One thing I want to highlight,” Ms Strachan said. “One of the concerns is around what we call, I think, ‘cages’ where you have walk-ups.

“There are no more cages. Cages will not be approved. Let me say it like that. Approvals will not be granted for take-away restaurants to sell alcohol. That is now a new thing, I am told. I don’t want to prejudice a particular community, but I think you know who I mean.

“They have lots and lots of restaurants and little stores, and now their restaurants have turned into take aways and you can get a couple Johnny Walker. Those type of establishments will no longer be around.” Ms Strachan was almost certainly referring to the restaurants and stores owned and operated by members of The Bahamas’ Chinese community.

The Department of Inland Revenue chief said the tax agency will start “touching bases” as early as next week, as it will “shift” its compliance and investigations unit to do “outreach in the community and surrounding area” to educate businesses on the new liquor licensing regime, its requirements and what will be prohibited.

“No more ‘cages’. No more take away restaurants,” Ms Strachan reiterated. “You cannot buy a cup of gin and coke. No more drive throughs. Supermarkets, they don’t traditionally sell alcohol, at least not the major ones, but there are some convenience stores we note that are selling alcohol. That will no longer be allowed.

“Mobile bars, that will not be allowed. I know there are some tours, party buses and that type of thing. We are looking at how we can adjust for them because we do know it is a viable tour, and it maybe that we say you cannot serve liquor when the bus is in motion. It is something we are still looking at.”

Under Business Licence reforms introduced with the 2025-2026 Budget, all existing establishments selling liquor – stores, bars, restaurants, nightclubs – plus new ones planning to open must now apply for a registration certificate from the Department of Inland Revenue before year-end 2025. The online portal for receiving applications is due to open on Wednesday, October 1.

Ms Strachan said there are 2,000 stores or businesses registered as selling liquor under the Business Licence Act, and “we have to have all of them registered by January 1” otherwise they will be unable to both obtain the necessary certification and apply for their Business Licence.

New applicants, seeking to open and operate a liquor-related business for the first time, are required by the Act to submit their applications at least 90 days before they plan to launch operations. This is because they have to undergo a “public consultation” to obtain neighbours’ views on their presence, while the application also has to be “reviewed” by a “panel” created by the Ministry of Finance.

As for existing establishments, which are in effect seeking to renew their Business Licence, Ms Strachan said a list of all such applicants will be made public so Bahamians can voice their concerns about any particular location and/or operation. She added that, in dealing with applications, New Providence and the Family Islands will be divided into separate zones with the former having four.

Public feedback, Ms Strachan said, will determine whether renewal applications will be reviewed. “If there are negative comments recommending closure or cessation of business, those are the ones we are going to look at or have a panel look at it to review,” she explained. “The ones that have no issues, they are the ones that will be sailing through. 

“We do know there will be plenty of issues with establishments that have music and dance. We get comments now. We get complaints now about loud music and all of that.” Ms Strachan admitted that the Department of Inland Revenue has “moved away” from imposing ‘hours of operation’ restrictions on the likes of bars and nightclubs, adding: “We really don’t do that any more.

“The Department of Inland Revenue has moved away from that. We may go back to that in some cases that require it. Of course, we also will be relying heavily on police recommendations. We have been getting a lot of feedback from the police in certain establishments that are prone to crime. That will be taken into consideration. It’s a lot.”

Ms Strachan agreed with Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s senior vice-president of government and external affairs, that the new licensing regime imposes a “very onerous” burden on the hotel and wider private sector plus her agency. He had asked whether hotels could be granted two, or even three-year, certificates of registration to ease the bureaucracy and red tape associated with annual applications.

“It’s too soon for me to speak to that,” Ms Strachan added of Mr Sands’ request. “We’re going to get through this first year and, trust you me, there will be amendments, there will be changes. We all know that because this, as you said it so correctly, this will be extremely onerous especially for our Department.

“It is a lot. When we are looking through, it requires a lot of you and it requires a lot of our department as well. I foresee there will be amendments to simplify it as we get through this first round, but this first round everybody has got to go through it the same. Then we will make changes, I think, in 2026.”

Ms Strachan also admitted the Department of Inland Revenue’s challenges in providing timely, detailed responses to taxpayer inquires and pledged that much of these will be resolved by the launch of the One Tax Bahamas online portal – consolidating all tax revenue streams – before year-end

Admitting that the Department of Inland Revenue’s manpower and resources have not kept pace with the “explosion of taxation in The Bahamas”, she nevertheless warned the private sector that the switch to One Tax Bahamas will come with some unavoidable “pain” when taxpayers have to re-register in February 2026 and obtain a “BIN” (likely Bahamas Identification Number) rather than the present TIN.

“We do realise it’s a challenge for you to do business with the Department of Inland Revenue,” Ms Strachan conceded. “That’s not our intent. I know everybody complains about trying to call us and us not answering and not responding. So for us we have made a concerted effort to improve our service to our clients, the public….

“One Tax Bahamas will be launched later this year. Next year, some time around February, you’ll hear about the dreaded registration. I know you will cringe when you hear it, but it will be necessary unfortunately because you have to have a new number. You have to have a ‘BIN’, not a ‘TIN’.

“It will be painful in the beginning, I won’t lie, because you’re going to have to do registration, but once that’s done I think you’ll be thrilled with the product because it will give you easy access to the Department, easy access to pay your taxes and definitely to get the services that are now a bit painful….

“We think it’s a wonderful solution to your pain points and ours as well,” Ms Strachan added. “Taxation in The Bahamas has exploded. Unfortunately manpower in The Bahamas has not exploded to keep up with it.”

By Neil Hartnell
Tribune Business Editor