Any person who engages in a profession, trade, business or calling ("professional activity") may be required to register and pay an annual fee to either the Chief Labour Officer or the Registrar of the Supreme Court, depending on the professional activity undertaken, or to be undertaken, by that person.
Annual registration fee
The annual fee varies depending on the professional activity of the person in question. The prescribed fees are shown in the list below.
Persons who engage or intend to engage in more than one professional activity must be registered and pay the appropriate fee in respect of each such professional activity.
Annual fees must be paid to the relevant authority by January 31st of each year. Any person who fails to pay the prescribed fee before the deadline will also be required to pay a penalty of the same amount.
If you are already registered and seek to renew your licence, it is now possible to pay the annual licence fee online via EZPay+, the official payment gateway of the Barbados Government.
Registering for the first time
It is not possible to pay the licence fee online for first time registrations. Persons who are not registered will need to attend in person to have their documentation authenticated and to pay the prescribed fee.
For first time registrations with the Registrar of the Supreme Court, visit the Registration Department at Whitepark Road.
For first time registrations with the Chief Labour Officer, visit the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Third Sector at the Warrens Office Complex.
Persons to whom the Act applies
A – C
Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:
- Architect
BDS $1,250 - Accountant
BDS $1,250 - Auto-mechanic
BDS $375 - Advertising Agent
BDS $375 - Auto-parts Dealer
BDS $375 - Antique Art Dealer
BDS $25 - Auto-body Technician
BDS $375 - Coach Builder
BDS $375 - Customs Broker
BDS $375 - Commercial Artist
BDS $25 - Commission Agent
BDS $375
Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:
- Actuary
BDS $1,250 - Auctioneer
BDS $375 - Audiologist
BDS $375 - Ancupuncturist
BDS $375 - Attorney at Law
BDS $1,250 - Builder
BDS $375 - Contractor
BDS $375 - Chiropodist
BDS $375 - Chiropractor
BDS $375 - Cardiac Technologist
BDS $375
D – F
Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:
- Discotheque proprietor
BDS $25 - Dress maker, tailor or designer
BDS $25 - Embalmer
BDS $375 - Employment Agency Operator
BDS $25 - Furniture Manufacturer
BDS $25
Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:
- Dietitian
BDS $375 - Draughtsman
BDS $375 - Dental Hygienist
BDS $375 - Dental Technician
BDS $375 - Dental Practitioner
BDS $1,250 - Engineer
BDS $1,250 - Emergency Medical Technician
BDS $25 - Emergency Medical Dispatcher
BDS $25 - Flying Instructor
BDS $375 - Funeral Director
BDS $375
G – I
Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:
- Gauger
BDS $375 - Handicraft Dealer
BDS $25 - Interior Decorator
BDS $375 - Insurance Practitioner
BDS $25
J – L
Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:
- Jeweller
BDS $25 - Journalist (freelance)
BDS $375 - Landscape Artist
BDS $25 - Legal Investigator
BDS $25
Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:
- Land Surveyor
BDS $1,250
M – O
Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:
- Masseur
BDS $25 - Musician, singer and entertainer
BDS $25 - Manufacturer of any type of building material
BDS $25 - Naturopath
BDS $375 - Nightclub proprietor
BDS $25 - Organ Builder
BDS $25 - Operator of boats – a person, including a company, providing excursions, tours, water-skiing, parasailing and other such services
BDS $375
Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:
- Master Stevedore
BDS $375 - Medical Practitioner
BDS $1,250 - Medical Laboratory Technologist
BDS $375 - Nutritionist
BDS $375 - Nuclear Medical Technologist
BDS $375 - Orthotist
BDS $375 - Orthoptist
BDS $375 - Osteopath
BDS $375 - Optometrist
BDS $375 - Ophthalmic Dispenser
BDS $375 - Occupational Therapist
BDS $375
P – R
Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:
- Photographer
BDS $375 - Private Inquiry Agent
BDS $25 - Race-horse Breeder or Trainer, including breeder of studs
BDS $375
Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:
- Podiatrist
BDS $375 - Paramedic
BDS $75 - Prosthetist
BDS $375 - Pharmacist
BDS $375 - Psychologist
BDS $375 - Physiotherapist
BDS $375 - Professional Promoter
BDS $375 - Persons licensed to perform Dental Services
BDS $375 - Quantity Surveyor
BDS $1,250 - Reflexologist
BDS $375 - Real Estate Agent
BDS $375 - Radiographer (Diagnostic or Therapeutic)
BDS $375
S – U
Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:
- Ships' Chandler
BDS $375 - Taxi or Truck Proprietor
BDS $25 - Transient Trader – a person who is not ordinarily resident in Barbados and who visits for the purpose of selling or procuring orders for the sale of or furthering or promoting the sale of goods manufactured or produced outside Barbados
BDS $25
Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:
- Speech Therapist
BDS $375 - Town Planner
BDS $375 - Undertaker
BDS $375
V – X
Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:
- Vehicle Maker
BDS $375 - Water Sports Instructor – a person engaged in teaching scuba diving, parasailing, water-skiing and other such water sports
BDS $375
Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:
- Veterinary Surgeon
BDS $1,250
Persons exempted from the Act
- Shopkeepers operating without a liquor licence
Relevant legislation
The principal Act is the Profession, Trade and Business Registration Act, Cap. 373 which came into operation on the 1st January, 1979.
The prescribed fees were last updated by Parliament under the Profession, Trade and Business Registration (Amendment) Act, 2017 which came into operation on the 1st January, 2017.
The list of occupations were last updated by the Minister responsible for Finance under the Profession, Trade and Business Registration Order, 2011 which came into effect on the 1st January, 2012.
The exemption from registration for shopkeepers operating without a liquor licence is provided under the Profession, Trade and Business Registration (Exemption) Order, 1979, which came into effect on the 1st January, 1979.
