Guide to Doing Business
in St. Maarten

Tax

St. Maarten 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 St. Maarten is party to the treaty between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United States of America concerning the exchange of data with regard to taxation.

St. Maarten has adopted the entire tax system as it applied in the former Netherlands Antilles (see Constitutional changes). The St. Maarten tax system consist of taxes on corporations and taxes on individuals. For tax purposes, corporations are classified as either resident or non-resident. The important St. Maarten taxes on corporations are the income tax (inkomstenbelasting), profits tax (winstbelasting), dividend tax (dividendbelasting) and the company turnover tax (belasting op bedrijfsomzetten or BBO). One of the taxes on individuals is payroll tax (loonbelasting) .

The turnover tax (BBO) is levied on the delivery of goods and all services rendered ‘within the territory’ by resident or non-resident entrepreneurs within the scope of their business. The BBO rate is 5%.

A 5% room tax (logeergastenbelasting) is levied from non-resident guests of hotels and other guesthouses, including rentals of vacation villa’s and condos. Time-share guests pay a fixed fee of NAF 90 (USD 50) per week which is included in the annual maintenance fee. Gasoline and cigarettes are subject to an excise duty. A transfer tax (overdrachtsbelasting) of 4% is levied on the transfer of real estate. Furthermore there is a Real Estate Property tax (grondbelasting). This annual tax is levied on the value of the real estate. The tax rate amounts to 0,3% of the value of both unimproved property and improved land with structure, and is charged to the owner of the properties. A person who inherits money or property on the estate of a person who has died has to pay inheritance tax (successiebelasting).

St. Maarten 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.

E-zone

An e-zone is an area designated for international trade and services. Although e-zone legislation is in force, the authorities of St. Maarten did not designate any locations.

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.