Caribbean Tax Update No. 2026/04

21 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.

The Belastingplan 2027 presented on Prinsjesdag raises the untaxed kilometre allowance for the BES islands and cuts petrol excise for 2027, and the Tweede Kamer adopted the Fiscale verzamelwet BES eilanden 2027 without a vote. The Minister of Finance of Sint Maarten said the systems of the Inspectorate and the Receiver still do not communicate, so the total tax debt outstanding cannot be established. The 2027 draft budget of Curaçao counts on just over XCG 2 billion in tax revenue, and the Cft reports that profit tax, turnover tax and property tax are running ahead of budget.

Case law | Aruba

Aruba | Import duties, tariff classification

Mounting material for solar panels is not classified as parts of solar panels; only the cables keep the 2 percent rate

A company imported cables, corrugated sheet bolts, clamps, nuts and screws in 2020 to 2022 and declared them under the heading for parts of solar panels, taxed at 2 percent. On post-clearance control the Inspector reclassified the goods under headings 7318, 7610 and 8544 at 6 percent and issued three invitations to pay of Afl. 4,921, Afl. 13,619 and Afl. 14,689. The Court held that classification follows the objective characteristics of the goods under the Harmonised System rules and not ordinary language: the mounting system is needed to fix the panels to the roof but plays no part in generating electricity, so it cannot be classified as parts of solar panels. For the cables the Court accepted that a ministerial approving policy applies, so the reduced 2 percent rate is due on those goods.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:234)

Case law | Joint Court and Supreme Court

Curaçao | Profit tax, collection, legitimate expectations

The tax court may not dismiss an appeal for lack of interest on the ground that the Receiver is barred from collecting

A Curaçao company appealed against an additional profit tax assessment for 2013. After the Minister of Finance announced on his private Facebook page in January 2023 that tax debts for 2017 and earlier were being cancelled, and the Receiver removed the assessment from the company's debtor statement, the Joint Court declared the appeal inadmissible for lack of interest. The Receiver later reinstated the assessment under the press release of 3 April 2023, which keeps debts of NAf 1 million or more collectable where recovery options are known. On an appeal in cassation in the interest of the law the Supreme Court held that a mere write-off is not an unequivocal statement that collection will not take place, and that whether legitimate expectations bar collection can only be examined by the civil court, with the Receiver as a party. The Joint Court's decision was quashed in the interest of the law without affecting the rights the parties had obtained.

Read the full decision (ECLI:NL:HR:2026:1245)

Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten | Tax administration, collection

Minister of Finance says the systems of the Inspectorate and the Receiver still do not communicate, so the total amount outstanding is unknown

In a radio interview on 18 September the Minister of Finance said that the systems of the Tax Administration and the Receiver are not integrated and do not exchange data, so she cannot responsibly state how much tax is outstanding in total. She said enforcement is being applied to all taxpayers without distinction, and acknowledged that issuing several assessments in quick succession with short payment terms is not fair to taxpayers. The payment arrangement for individual income tax has been extended from nine to 24 months and remains available until 31 December 2026. The ministry is working on a new integrated tax IT system and on revised tax processes.

Sint Maarten | Motor vehicle tax, enforcement

New licence plates announced for 2027 and personalised plates for 2028 to support road tax enforcement

The Minister of Finance said a new licence plate will be introduced in 2027 because the current plate makes it harder to identify vehicles for road tax enforcement. Personalised plates are under consideration for 2028 and would be paid for by the vehicle owner, generating additional revenue; it has not yet been decided whether they would be issued for the front, the rear or both. Legislation allowing personalised plates was drafted by a member of Parliament during the 2026 budget debate. The minister said road tax receipts were higher in 2026 than in 2025 but still below the 2023 level, and that closer cooperation between the ministries of Finance and Justice is needed for enforcement.

Curaçao

Curaçao | Budget 2027, tax revenue

2027 draft budget projects just over XCG 2 billion in tax revenue, XCG 187 million more than in 2026

Total revenue in the 2027 draft budget is XCG 2.279 billion, of which about 90 percent is tax revenue. Tax receipts are budgeted at slightly more than XCG 2 billion, an increase of almost XCG 187 million on the 2026 budget. Profit tax rises from XCG 156 million to nearly XCG 198 million, turnover tax from XCG 737 million to XCG 755 million and import duties from XCG 236 million to XCG 250 million, while wage and income tax falls slightly to XCG 426 million. The tourist entry tax is the main new source, estimated at about XCG 109 million on a full-year basis but budgeted at XCG 82 million to allow for the timing of its introduction. Ordinary expenditure rises by XCG 142 million to about XCG 2.2 billion without additional borrowing.

Curaçao | Budget execution, Cft

Cft reports profit tax, turnover tax and property tax above budget in the second quarter, but repeats that information on the tax administration is missing

In its letter of 11 September on the second 2026 execution report, the Cft records a provisional surplus of XCG 189 million on the ordinary service, which keeps Curaçao within the budget standard of the Rft. Revenue of XCG 1,142 million is XCG 91 million above budget for the period, mainly because tax receipts of XCG 1,047 million are XCG 84 million higher than budgeted; profit tax, turnover tax and property tax are above budget, while the waste levy and the excise on beer are slightly behind. The Cft notes that the draft budget amendment promised for 2026 has still not been delivered, that an unexplained XCG 6 million addition to reserves cannot be assessed, and that information on the reform of the Tax Administration and on the improvement measures at the Receiver is again absent.

Curaçao | Public finance, transparency

Ministry of Finance publishes Mini Mòni, a plain-language guide to the national budget

The Ministry of Finance released a pilot edition of Mini Mòni on 18 September, a short guide explaining where government revenue comes from and how public funds are allocated across education, healthcare, infrastructure, security and economic development. The pilot is based on the 2026 budget and was issued alongside the submission of the 2027 budget to Parliament. The guide is available in Papiamentu and Dutch as a download and is intended to appear annually.

Aruba

Aruba | Motor vehicle tax

Motor vehicle tax for 2027 can now be paid; the deadline is 1 February 2027

The Departamento di Impuesto announced on 18 September that the 2027 motor vehicle tax can be paid from now on. The rates are unchanged and existing taxpayers pay the tax only, as the blue and white plates remain valid until 2029. Payment in instalments is possible with a minimum of Afl. 50 per month for ordinary vehicles and Afl. 200 per month for buses and commercial vehicles, but instalments for the first half of 2027 are no longer accepted after 1 February 2027. Late or non-payment carries a 50 percent penalty.

Caribbean Netherlands

Caribbean Netherlands | Belastingplan 2027

Belastingplan 2027 raises the untaxed kilometre allowance and temporarily lowers petrol excise on the BES islands

The Belastingplan 2027 was sent to the Tweede Kamer on Prinsjesdag, 15 September 2026, and contains two measures for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. The maximum amounts for car costs, untaxed kilometre allowances and certain extraordinary expenses rise from USD 0.20 to USD 0.22 per kilometre, with retroactive effect to 1 January 2026; employers are not obliged to pay the higher allowance. Petrol excise is to be reduced temporarily for the whole of 2027, by 5.5 dollar cents per litre on Bonaire and by 4.19 dollar cents per litre on Sint Eustatius and Saba. Both measures still have to pass the Tweede Kamer and the Eerste Kamer and are intended to take effect on 1 January 2027.

Caribbean Netherlands | Tax legislation

Tweede Kamer adopts the Fiscale verzamelwet BES eilanden 2027 without a vote

The bill amending several tax acts for the BES islands was adopted as a hamerstuk on 17 September 2026 and has gone to the Eerste Kamer. It amends the Belastingwet BES, the income tax and wage tax acts for the BES, the customs and excise act for the BES and the Financial Act for the public bodies, and brings together substantive as well as technical and editorial corrections to a system that has been in place since 1 January 2011. The government describes the changes as technical, with no or very limited budgetary effect, and intends them to enter into force on 1 January 2027.

Bonaire | Tax fraud, money laundering

Prosecution demands prison sentences of 9, 12 and 18 months for tax fraud and money laundering

At hearings on 10 and 11 September on Bonaire the Public Prosecutor's Office accused an accountant of diverting money intended for tax payments from a Bonaire construction company to private accounts and of filing incorrect tax returns for the company. Together with two co-defendants he is said to have laundered the proceeds over a number of years and forged documents; the Financial Intelligence Unit had previously reported suspicious transactions. The amount of tax involved exceeds USD 490,000 and the laundered sum exceeds USD 190,000. The prosecution demanded prison sentences of nine, twelve and eighteen months and temporary professional bans for two of the defendants. Judgment is expected on 1 October 2026.

Kingdom and international

Kingdom | Landspakketten, reform cooperation

Dutch 2027 budget reserves funds for a two-year extension of the Landspakketten to 2029

The Kingdom Relations budget presented on 15 September reserves almost EUR 31 million from 2027 for later years, with more than EUR 21 million in 2028 and about EUR 10 million in 2029, together with EUR 4 million in staff costs for the Temporary Work Organisation, to allow a two-year extension of the cooperation under the Landspakketten. The Onderlinge Regeling that governs this cooperation runs until 2027 and can be extended by two years at a time. An extension requires the approval of the parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The Landspakketten cover reforms in public financial management, government, taxation, the labour market, social security, the economy, healthcare and education.

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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