Guide to Doing Business
in Bonaire
Tax
Bonaire is a public entity within the country of The Netherlands. The Netherlands is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Kingdom has a Tax Regulations for the Kingdom (Belastingregeling voor het Koninkrijk or BKR). The main purpose of the BKR is to avoid double taxation within the Kingdom. Additionally Bonaire is party to the treaty between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United States of America concerning the exchange of information with regard to taxation.
The constitutional changes affect the tax legislation on Bonaire. Since January 2011 Bonaire has new tax legislation. The tax legislation of the Netherlands and the former Netherlands Antilles does not apply for Bonaire.
The Bonaire tax system consist of taxes on corporations and taxes on individuals. The important Bonaire taxes on corporations are real estate tax (vastgoedbelasting) and revenue tax (opbrengstbelasting). The revenue tax can be compared with the Dutch dividend tax. Bonaire does not have profits tax (winstbelasting). The profits tax is replaced for the real estate tax and the revenue tax. The real estate tax is an annual tax levied on income from some but not all immovable property. Actual income is not taken into account. The income is in fact established at 4% of the fair market value. The fair market value is determined by official order every five years. You may object to this order. The effective real estate tax is 0.4% for hotels and 0.8% for other real estate. Please do note that tax-free thresholds exist for real estate. Do also note that The Public Entity of Bonaire is entitled to the levying of surtax on top of the real estate tax. Bonaire levies a surtax of 15% calculated on the due amount of the real estate tax.If real estate is subject to real estate tax, no land tax (grondbelasting) is due and the other way around. Also, exemptions of the real estate tax are applicable. One of the taxes on individuals is payroll tax (loonbelasting).
The General Expenditure Tax (Algemene Bestedingsbelasting or ABB) rate on Bonaire is 6% on services, such as hotel and catering services or other services provided by entrepreneurs, and 8% on the import of goods and for the supply of goods by manufacturers. Gasoline, cigarettes, beer, wine and alcoholic spirits are subject to an excise duty. A transfer tax (overdrachtsbelasting) of 5% is levied on the transfer of real estate.
Bonaire also has a social security system. The social security taxes are known as AOV, for old-age pension, and AWW, for widows and orphans. There is a contribution for both employers and employees.
VANEPS is not a tax advisory firm. The information contained on this page provided general guidance for companies only. It should not be used as a substitute for consultation a tax lawyer.