Curacao offers a wide range of tax incentives for all businesses

The following fiscal incentives are available:

  • Accelerated depreciation of business assets;
  • Investment allowance of 10% of the total investments The investment allowance cannot be applied to certain investments (e.g. in land). However, if the investments are alienated, a disinvestment addition should be included to the taxable income of the year of the disinvestment.

Tax defferal or exemptions

  • Retirement contributions for pensions are tax deductible.
  • Profits and losses from a permanent establishment abroad are tax exempted.
  • Income from foreign real estate is tax exempted.
  • It is possible to achieve a profit tax exempt company merger or a stock merger.

Tax holiday

This incentive is available for newly incorporated companies that contribute to broadening the local economic base. This so called ‘tax holiday’ consists of tax exemptions and/or reduced tax rates such as:

  • Exemption from import duties;
  • Exemption from income tax on dividends;
  • Corporate tax rate of 2% or in certain cases up to 15%;
  • Exemption from property tax.

The tax holiday is granted for a period of 5 to 11 years. Requirements for the tax holiday:

  • Minimum investment of at least ANG 250,000 (approx. USD 140,000);
  • For hotels and similar recreational businesses a minimum investment of at least ANG 1 million (USD 555,000).

In addition to these general incentives Curaçao offers the following specific incentives and entities depending on your specific situation.

International Shipping Company

Aside from the shipping and aviation tax rate, international shipping companies can request the application of the tonnage tax. With the tonnage tax the company declares a fixed amount of profit based on the tonnage of the ship instead of the actual profit. The tonnage tax can be requested by companies that solely exploit ships. To use the tonnage tax the company must register its ship in the tonnage tax register.

Key factors:

  • Gross profit of the company is calculated based on a fixed profit starting at ANG 2.00, going down to ANG 0.60 per net registered ton (USD 1,12 and USD 0.34 respectively).
  • The calculated fixed profit is taxed at the general rate of 25%.
  • The user/non-owner and the managing company can also be assessed on the tonnage.

Download: Latest overview of Tax Incentives

When considering a country to establish a company, local taxation laws and regulations are important factors. Curaçao has a strategic geographic location outside the hurricane belt and offers a wide range of tax incentives for all businesses. The latter makes Curaçao a great location for operations.

This document includes an overview of tax incentives, which could be relevant for your company, consisting of:

  • Legal entities: General / Territoriality Principle / Reduced profit tax rate / Curaçao Investment Company / Curaçao Private Foundation / Tax Holiday / E-Zone / Shipping Company / Participation Exemption / Fiscal Unity / Investment Allowance
  • Natural person: Penshonado regulation / Expatriate regime (+ requirements/benefits)