CURAÇAO SOLIDARITY PACKAGE FOR ENTREPRENEURS

The Government of Curaçao announced a so-called solidarity package on 23 March 2020 to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 health crisis. You can find all proposed measures constituting the solidarity package (in dutch) on our website. Hereafter we elaborate on a number of measures relevant specifically to entrepreneurs such as yourself.

Please note that the general measures that have been announced still have to be worked out in more detail. 

For further information on the solidarity package, please contact:

Anjli Finessi, tax adviser, finessi@bakertillycuracao.com

Wilco van Oosten, tax adviser, vanoosten@bakertillycuracao.com

Arthur van Aalst, tax attorney, vanaalst@bakertillycuracao.com

Owners and administrators of commercial real estate can offer their tenants a temporary postponement of rent payments. If one of your entities owns a property that one of your other entities leases, you could consider temporarily suspending payment obligations.
It could also be commercially viable to suspend payment obligations in order to not owe turnover tax.

The combined measures 3, 4, 5 and 6 offer the possibility to not pay taxes due through June 2020 without fear of receiving a fine for late payment or late payment fees and interest accruing.

In fact, this creates a deferral of tax payments with no negative consequences through June 2020. This can apply to, for example, the upcoming payment of tax due on the provisional profit tax return or the remittance of wage tax and social insurance premiums.

Please note: the measures result in a temporary deferral of payments, not their revocation. Should it be necessary to extend the deferral, tax measure number 6 provides for that possibility

This deferral does not constitute a waiver of the obligation to file tax returns in a timely manner. Your periodic returns for wage tax, turnover tax, profit tax and other taxes must be submitted on time.

• Fiscal measure number 7: no remittance of employer’s part of old age and widow’s pension (AOV/AWW) for specific sectors

Businesses in specific sectors are exempted from remitting the employer’s part of the AOV/AWW premium of their employees. The exemption concerns only the remittance of the mandatory 9.5% employer’s premium contribution, including that on the director/majority shareholder’s salary. Please make a note of this measure in your payroll administration.
The specific sectors for whom this measure is valid are, the hospitality sector, beauty salons, travel sector, car rental companies, carwashes and transportation companies

• Fiscal measure number 8: no remittance of turnover tax for specific sectors

The same specific sectors as mentioned before, being the hospitality sector, beauty salons, travel sector, car rental companies, carwashes and transportation companies, may, during the period April through June 2020, charge turnover tax to their clients but do not need to remit this turnover tax to the Tax Receiver.

• Fiscal measure number 10: increased basic allowance introduced with retroactive effect

As soon as the amount of the increased basic allowance becomes known, this will have an impact on your payroll as it will be introduced with retroactive effect to 1 January 2020. We will keep you updated on developments.

• Measures SOAW number 10: compulsory vacation days

The Ministry of Social Development, Labor and Wellbeing (SOAW) has announced as a relief measure that employers and employees should, with the intervention of SOAW if necessary, mutually agree to take up compulsory paid vacation days.

Finally, the Minister of SOAW announced that it will be extra vigilant to make sure employers do not fire or lay-off their employees without a valid termination permit from SOAW. Please contact the helpdesk of the Labor Department for more information in case of doubt.