THE HAGUE – The three island parliaments of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba, currently in the Netherlands for meetings, are highly critical of the proposed amendments to the BES Tax Law 2025.

This is understood by ABC Online Media from conversations with various council members currently in the Netherlands for discussions. The proposed changes for the year 2025 add to several unfavourable measures already implemented in 2024. Council members are particularly concerned about the proposed drastic reduction (by about 200,000 dollars per year) in the threshold for falling into the higher income tax bracket. This is in addition to the significantly increased amount of ‘customary wages’ on which small business owners are taxed.

“We have already made it clear that we are not happy with several of the proposed changes,” says council member Roland Helburg-Makaai of the Democratic Party Bonaire (PDB). Colleague Saskia Mattheuw of the Party for Progress, Equality and Prosperity (PEP) on Saba echoes this sentiment.

Finance Commissioner Clark Abraham also expresses criticism. “We will take a joint stance with St. Eustatius and Saba on the proposed changes. But I can already say that Bonaire is not looking at it positively”.