Caribbean Tax Update No. 2026/02

7 September 2026

The Caribbean Tax Update is 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.

No new Caribbean tax decisions were published on rechtspraak.nl in the past week, so this edition covers budget and revenue news. The boards of financial supervision report that the Sint Maarten tourist tax has been postponed to 1 January 2027 while compliance work produced XCG 30 million in additional collections, Curaçao collected XCG 83 million more tax than budgeted in the first half of 2026, and the CAft issued its advice on the 2027 draft budget of Aruba.

Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten | Tax policy and collection

Tourist tax postponed to 1 January 2027; compliance work yields XCG 30 million in additional collections

The Board of financial supervision Curaçao and Sint Maarten (Cft) published its half-year report for January to June 2026 on 31 August. The report records that the tourist tax, which was to be introduced in 2026, has been postponed again, with 1 January 2027 as the new target date. Compliance work carried out with SBAB and the Audit Team Sint Maarten produced approximately XCG 30 million in additional tax revenue in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period of 2025, and the Cft asked for that work to be continued on a structural basis. Sint Maarten needs additional revenue because of its liquidity position: free cash at the end of 2025 was XCG 5 million against payment arrears of XCG 142 million. The health care funds run annual deficits of about XCG 35 million with accumulated debt of XCG 500 million, and the Cft has urged that the general health insurance and the tourist tax be implemented in 2027 as planned. The minister of Finance has stated that the 2027 budget will be sent to Parliament on 8 September 2026.

Curaçao

Curaçao | Tax revenue

Tax revenue passes XCG 1 billion at mid-year, XCG 83 million above budget

The financial management report for June 2026 and the second quarter execution report show tax revenue of more than XCG 1 billion in the first half of 2026, XCG 83 million above the budgeted amount. Profit tax accounted for XCG 22 million of the excess, turnover tax for XCG 19 million, property tax for XCG 14 million, motor vehicle tax for XCG 13 million and wage tax for XCG 11 million. The ordinary service closed the half year with a surplus of almost XCG 189 million and the preliminary overall surplus is slightly more than XCG 170 million. The Ministry of Finance notes that nearly XCG 250 million in obligations has not yet been processed and that weaknesses in the financial administration remain, so the surplus is not freely available.

Aruba

Aruba | Budget and tax revenue

CAft advises on the 2027 draft budget: surplus of 2.3 percent of GDP and tax revenue up 3 percent

The College Aruba financieel toezicht published its advice on the 2027 draft budget on 3 September 2026. Aruba budgets a collective sector surplus of AWG 203 million for 2027, 2.3 percent of gross domestic product, and a yearly surplus of at least 1.5 percent for 2028 to 2031, which meets the budget norm of the LAft. Direct tax revenue is estimated at AWG 685 million and indirect tax revenue at AWG 930 million, increases of AWG 29 million and AWG 27 million respectively, broadly in line with expected nominal economic growth. Interest charges continue to weigh on public finances: about 15 cents of every florin received in 2027 goes to interest obligations. The CAft asks Aruba to submit the budget of the new Algemeen Investerings- en Ontwikkelingsfonds and a multi-year investment agenda before the budget goes to the Staten, and to apply the most recent definition of the collective sector, which was extended in June 2026 from 6 to 34 entities.

Kingdom and international

Kingdom | Financial supervision

Boards of financial supervision publish half-year report covering all six Caribbean jurisdictions

The Cft, the CAft and the Cft BES published their joint half-year report for January to June 2026 on 31 August. Curaçao recorded a budget surplus of XCG 107 million in 2025, over 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, and budgets a surplus of XCG 19 million for 2026, but has not yet cleared the backlog in establishing the size of the collective sector, which is needed to test the interest burden norm. For Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba the report notes that budgets grew between 2022 and 2026 mainly through higher free and special contributions from the Netherlands, so that the share of central government funding is rising faster than locally generated revenue, in particular on Saba and Sint Eustatius. The report closes with factsheets of economic indicators for each of the six jurisdictions.

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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