Caribbean Tax Update No. 2026/01

4 September 2026

Welcome to the first edition of the Caribbean Tax Update, a free weekly overview of tax case law, legislation and administrative news from Sint Maarten, Curaçao, Aruba and the Caribbean Netherlands. Each item carries a short summary and a link to the source document.

This week: a busy docket at the Court of First Instance of Aruba on import duties and late-payment penalties, a Bonaire ruling on the timing of a capital gain when the buyer never pays, a Sint Maarten decision on late objections, and Curaçao's revised minimum tax bill.

Case law | Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten | Formal tax law, penalties

Bookkeeping problems and changing accountants do not excuse a late objection; penalties reduced by 15% for undue delay

A company objected to additional assessments and penalties for 2017 to 2020, but most objections were filed after the deadline. The Court held that problems with the administration and successive changes of bookkeepers do not make the delay excusable. The one timely objection, against the 2019 AVBZ assessment, was also declared inadmissible because the company never substantiated it despite repeated extensions. The Court did reduce the penalties by 15% because the reasonable term had been exceeded by about one year and ten months, and the Inspector conceded that the second additional profit tax assessment for 2017 had to be reduced to nil.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEAM:2026:114)

Case law | Curaçao

Curaçao | Turnover tax, burden of proof

Dutch resident renting out three villas on Curaçao is a taxable person for turnover tax; assessments upheld under reversed burden of proof, penalties reduced

Following a tax audit, additional turnover tax assessments and penalties were imposed on a Netherlands resident who rents out three villas on Curaçao. The Court confirmed that the owner qualifies as a taxable person for turnover tax. Because the required returns and records were deficient, the burden of proof was reversed and increased. The owner did not produce concrete, verifiable data showing that the Inspector's calculation was wrong, so the assessments stand. The penalties were reduced.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEAC:2026:170)

Curaçao | Import duties, tariff classification

Crypto mining device classified as an electrical apparatus with its own function (10.5%), not as a data processing machine (0%)

The importer of a "Lucky Miner LV07" argued for classification under heading 8471 (automatic data processing machines, 0%). The Inspector classified it under heading 8543 (electrical machines and apparatus with an individual function, 10.5%). The Court held that the Inspector could reasonably arrive at heading 8543 and ruled in favour of the Inspector.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEAC:2026:148)

Curaçao | Collection, civil law

Receiver entitled to close a restaurant after payment arrangements were not honoured

After an attachment for outstanding tax debts, the restaurant operator agreed to a payment arrangement with the Receiver but did not keep to it. The objections against the underlying assessments had already been rejected and the deferral of payment had been withdrawn. The Court held that the Receiver was entitled to proceed with closure of the business.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEAC:2025:368)

Case law | Aruba

Aruba | Income tax, social security premiums

Severance payment is income from former employment: full AOV/AWW and AZV premiums for the employee's account

A severance payment was fully subjected to AOV/AWW and AZV premiums. The Court confirmed that the payment is wage from former employment, so the employer owes no employer's share and the full premiums are borne by the taxpayer. The appeal succeeded only on a minor point: a deduction for gifts lowered the taxable income from Afl. 70,914 to Afl. 67,419, which affects income tax but not the premiums.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:215)

Aruba | Income tax, married couples

Severance payment counts as personal employment income; personal deductions must be taken by the spouse with the highest employment income

Under article 20 of the Income Tax Ordinance, income of married couples is attributed to the spouse with the highest personal employment income. A severance payment counts as such income. Because the wife therefore had the highest employment income, the personal deductions had to be claimed by her and not by her husband. The Court followed the clear text of the law and the legislative history: only the amount of employment income is decisive, regardless of marginal rates or tax advantages.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:216)

Aruba | Import duties, removal goods exemption

Student returning from Florida met the six-month requirement for the removal goods exemption on his car; exemption wrongly refused

The taxpayer lived in Florida for several years for his studies, bought a Mercedes-Benz there on 1 November 2024, moved to Aruba on 8 May 2025 and shipped the car on 21 June 2025. The Court found that he owned and used the car for more than six months before moving, so the conditions for the removal goods exemption were met. The Inspector must refund the duties and pay Afl. 1,400 in costs.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:218)

Aruba | Import duties, customs value

Customs value of an imported motorcycle set at the declared USD 3,200; online reference prices insufficient to prove a higher price

Customs rejected the declared value of USD 3,200 for a motorcycle bought in the United States and set it at USD 6,000 on the basis of online listings for comparable Harley-Davidson Road King models. The Court held that the Inspector had not made it plausible that the importer actually paid more than the invoice price. The declared value stands and the Inspector must pay costs.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:214)

Aruba | Import duties, exemption

Vessel imported by a commercial fisherman is, on its objective characteristics, a pleasure craft: no exemption from import duties

A commercial fisherman imported a vessel from the United States and claimed the exemption for professional fishing vessels. The Court held that, judged by its objective characteristics, the vessel is a pleasure or sport craft and not a fishing vessel, so the conditions for the exemption were not met. The appeal to the principle of equality also failed.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:219)

Aruba | Formal tax law, competence

Inspector of Import Duties and Excise, not the Inspector of Taxes, is competent to decide objections against BBO/BAVP and BAZV paid on import

The dispute concerned which Inspector is competent to handle objections against BBO/BAVP and BAZV levied on importation. The Court ruled that this is the Inspector of Import Duties and Excise and not the Inspector of Taxes.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:201)

Aruba | Penalties, BBO/BAZV

Late-payment penalties of Afl. 125 per period for BBO/BAZV upheld; tax must be paid on time without invitation or reminder

In two cases, concerning 2018 and February to October 2020, the Court confirmed penalties of Afl. 125 per period for late payment of BBO/BAZV. The tax had to be paid on time even without an invitation or reminder from the Inspector, and the penalties were considered appropriate. The reasonable term was exceeded, but since each penalty is below Afl. 1,000 the Court confined itself to that finding without reducing the amounts.

Read the decisions: ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:212 and ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:213

Aruba | Penalties, formal tax law

Objection against penalties for November and December 2020 filed too late; Court does not accept that the penalty notices were never received

The objection against late-payment penalties was filed after the deadline. The Court did not find it plausible that the notices had not been received, so the objection was rightly declared inadmissible. The reasonable term was exceeded, but as the penalties are below Afl. 1,000 they were not reduced.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:217)

Case law | Caribbean Netherlands

Bonaire | Income tax, capital gains

Gain on the sale of shares is fixed at the moment of sale: the agreed price counts as the transfer price even if the buyer later fails to pay

In November 2021 a shareholder sold 75 of his 100 shares for USD 101,250, part payable in instalments. The buyer eventually paid only USD 28,019. The taxpayer argued that the gain reported for 2021 should be reduced accordingly. The Court held that the gain is determined at the moment of sale on the basis of the agreed price, regardless of whether that price is later paid in full. The buyer's default does not change the gain realised in 2021, which remained USD 99,853.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEABES:2026:199)

Bonaire | Motor vehicle tax, formal tax law

Objection by a Netherlands resident against a Bonaire motor vehicle tax assessment inadmissible; tenants throwing away mail is at the owner's risk

The owner of a house on Bonaire, living in the Netherlands, received a 2018 motor vehicle tax assessment for a licence plate registered in his name and objected long after the two-month deadline. The Court held the delay was not excusable: the taxpayer had himself given the Bonaire address as his correspondence address, and the possibility that tenants discarded his mail is for his account. The Court added that the assessment was also correct on the merits, as he had not shown that the registration had been ended in accordance with the rules.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEABES:2026:198)

Curaçao

Curaçao | Legislation, Pillar Two

Minimum tax bill amended: new OECD safe harbour can reduce the Curaçao top-up tax to zero

The government has submitted a second amendment to the draft National Ordinance on Minimum Tax 2024 to incorporate OECD guidance published earlier this year. Under the new safe harbour, a group whose ultimate parent is established in a jurisdiction with an equivalent regime (a standard corporate rate of at least 20% or a minimum tax system achieving an effective rate of 15% or more) can reduce the Curaçao top-up tax to zero for that year. Provisions apply from 1 January 2026 or 1 January 2027, with optional retroactive effect to 1 January 2025 for some sections. The Staten resumed the public debate on the bill on 1 September; the bill still needs adoption and publication.

Curaçao | Tax administration

Tax Administration publishes management reports Q1 and Q2 2026 and a digital handbook for start-ups

The Curaçao Tax Administration published its management reports for the first and second quarter of 2026, covering revenue, compliance and service delivery under the TADAT framework, and a digital handbook with practical guidance on tax obligations for starting entrepreneurs. Earlier it announced that a number of businesses received incorrect additional assessments for May 2026 because payments had not yet been processed; these notices are being cancelled automatically.

Caribbean Netherlands

Saba | Tax administration

Tax Administration grants Saba residents leniency after months of limited mail delivery

Because mail delivery on Saba was limited in recent months, some residents could not respond in time to assessments and payment demands. The Tax Administration Caribbean Netherlands announced a two-month leniency arrangement for taxpayers who received notices between January and July 2026, and will automatically waive the USD 8 cost charges that were imposed.

The Caribbean Tax Update is a free weekly publication of Aalbers Private Tax Advisory. It is based on publicly available sources, in particular decisions published on rechtspraak.nl and official publications of the governments of Sint Maarten, Curaçao, Aruba and the Caribbean Netherlands. Summaries are provided for general information only and do not constitute tax advice. No liability is accepted for any reliance on this publication.

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