Tax office visits companies for payroll tax and verification of administration

The Caribbean Nether­lands Tax Department started to visit companies in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba as of June 1 to verify whether the data registered for payroll tax (“Ioonheffing”) corresponds to the persons os­tensibly employed in the company.

The administrations of companies will also be checked whether tax re­turns or tax assessments have been submitted or have been imposed for the correct amounts. The re­cent relaxation of the COVID-19 measures allows these visits again. To check whether all em­ployees are registered in the payroll administration, the employees present will be asked to identify them­selves. In this way it can be checked whether these employees have been regis­tered for payroll tax. Date and time of visits will not be announced in advance.

The visits for verification of business administrations on the correct payment of taxes will be announced in advance. The companies, or their advis­ers, can then prepare for the arrival of the audit staff.

The tax office emphasises that most companies in the Caribbean Netherlands are following the rules, but there are also entrepre­neurs who fail to meet their obligations.

“This has a negative ef­fect on society. It will also penalise those who do meet their obligations, and that is a form of unfair compe­tition. That is not only bad for the specific industry but for the entire community. For these reasons, supervi­sion of tax compliance is important,” the tax depart­ment said.

The Daily Herald.