KRALENDIJK – There are concerns about the 2025 tax plan for Caribbean Netherlands, especially as it appears that a tax burden introduced in 2024 will be further tightened in 2025. 

Tax expert and independent electoral college member for Bonaire, Jaap Kos, describes these plans as “outright appalling.” According to Kos, many small entrepreneurs are heavily affected because they already operate close to the poverty line. This includes cleaners, gardeners, taxi drivers, and hairdressers who run their businesses with perhaps one, two, or three employees in a B.V. or N.V.

“Last year, in close collaboration with the GroenLinks-PvdA and ChristenUnie factions in the Second and First Chambers, we raised critical questions about the Tax Plan for the BES islands in 2024. I highlighted the adverse effects on small and medium-sized entrepreneurs with a B.V./N.V., providing example calculations that demonstrated the proposed changes did not align with poverty alleviation goals.

Unfortunately, last month, the demissionary State Secretary for Taxation and the Tax Administration, Marnix van Rij (CDA), published an intention to further increase income tax for middle incomes from USD 50,000 per year to 35.4% starting in 2025. Currently, that higher rate only applies from USD 322,769.

Another proposal that particularly affects entrepreneurs is raising the tax on profit distributions for B.V./N.V. entrepreneurs from 5% to 7½%.

Collaboration 

Electoral college member Jaap Kos promises to do his best to advocate for Bonaire’s interests: “As an electoral college member, I unfortunately don’t have the power to veto, but through good collaboration with other politicians and stakeholders on the island and parliamentarians in The Hague, we can amplify our influence. I regularly have direct contact with parliament members from various political parties. The Tax Plan for the BES islands in 2025 should not proceed as proposed.”

Kos pledges to critically monitor the 2025 tax plan for Caribbean Netherlands, just as he did with the previous tax plan, and work to convince parliamentarians with evidence and calculations to make sensible decisions and adjust government policies.