OB return Curaçao: rates, deadlines and how to file

Businesses in Curaçao charge omzetbelasting (OB), a turnover tax of 6%, 7% or 9% on top of their prices, and pay it to the Belastingdienst with an OB return. The return and the payment are due within 15 days after each period — a month, a quarter or a year — also when there is nothing to pay. Unlike VAT, the OB you pay on purchases cannot be deducted, with one exception for imported trade goods.

What is OB in Curaçao?

OB is the Curaçao turnover tax, set out in the Landsverordening omzetbelasting 1999 (LOB). You add it to the price of the goods and services you supply, and you pass on to the Belastingdienst what you charged your customers.

Two things set it apart from European VAT. First, OB is cumulative: there is no deduction of input tax. The OB on your rent, your electricity or your stock is simply part of what those things cost you. Second, OB follows the invoice: it is due in the period of the invoice date, not when the customer pays (art. 10 LOB). A general cash basis does not exist.

What are the OB rates?

• 6% — the general rate
• 7% — the increased rate
• 9% — the high rate
• 0% — the zero rate
• Exempt — supplies the law exempts from OB

Which rate applies to which product or service is laid down in the law, so check your products once and record the rate per item. One invoice can carry lines at different rates; on the return, each rate is reported separately.

Who has to file an OB return?

Every entrepreneur who supplies goods or services in Curaçao is in principle liable for OB and files a return for every period, including periods without turnover.

There is one relief for very small businesses. A natural person whose turnover, excluding OB, stays at or below Cg 30,000 a year can ask in writing to be exempted (art. 8 LOB). The exemption starts in the next calendar year, and it is not available to companies, to someone who exploits an asset on a lasting basis, or to operators of lotteries and bingo. Go over the limit and you pay OB on the part above it, and you lose the exemption for the following year.

How often do you file, and when is it due?

Depending on the size of your business, you file per month, per quarter or per year; the Belastingdienst publishes the filing frequencies. The return and the payment are due within 15 days after the end of the period, and filing is online only, through the Belastingdienst portal.

What should your invoice show?

Because OB is counted on the invoice date, your sales invoices are the basis of your return. Give every invoice a clear date, put your tax number on it, and show the OB per rate on top of the price, so that your customer, the Belastingdienst and you all see the same amount. Invoicing in dollars or euros is fine; the conversion is explained below.

How does OB work on imports?

When you import goods, customs charges 9% OB on the customs value (art. 14c LOB). For most businesses that OB is a cost, just like the freight and the import duties.

Importers of goods for resale can get part of it back. Under art. 2a LOB, half of the OB paid at customs on trade goods can be deducted on your OB return, but only after you have asked the Inspector in writing and received a decision (beschikking), and only for imports from the date that decision takes effect. The deduction cannot exceed the OB you owe for the period: a surplus is not refunded but moves to your next return. A similar arrangement exists for the raw materials of an exporting producer (art. 13a LOB), also only on request.

What if a customer never pays?

You owe OB from the invoice date, so a customer who never pays leaves you with OB paid on money you never received. You can get it back, but only with a written request to the Belastingdienst, within two months after the period in which the right to the refund arose (art. 9 LOB). Deducting it yourself on your next return is not allowed.

Guilders, dollars and euros on your OB return

Curaçao’s currency is the Caribbean guilder (XCG, written Cg), which replaced the Netherlands Antillean guilder in 2025. It is pegged to the US dollar at 1.79, so a dollar invoice converts at a fixed rate, while euro amounts move with the exchange rate. Your OB return is in guilders: convert every invoice in another currency at the rate of its date, and keep a record of the rate you used.

Common mistakes

• Skipping the return in a quiet period. A nil return is still due within 15 days.
• Treating OB like VAT and deducting the OB on purchases. Apart from the art. 2a import deduction, there is no input tax.
• Claiming the 50% import deduction without a decision of the Inspector, or for goods you use yourself instead of reselling them.
• Booking sales in the period the customer pays. OB follows the invoice date.
• Netting a bad debt on the return instead of sending a written request within two months.
• Forgetting dollar and euro invoices, or converting them at the wrong rate.

How long do you keep your records?

Ten years (art. 2:15 Civil Code of Curaçao and art. 43 Algemene landsverordening Landsbelastingen). The balance sheet and the profit and loss account must be kept on paper; the rest may be digital. Keep your sales and purchase invoices, bank statements, customs documents and any decision on the import deduction together, so you can support every figure on every return.

How CORA helps with your OB return

CORA for Curaçao is online accounting software built around these rules. It does not file the return for you, but it gets it ready:

• OB at 6%, 7% and 9%, plus 0% and exempt: every sale and purchase moves your OB position the moment you book it.
• Counted on the invoice date, monthly, quarterly or yearly, with the deadline on your dashboard.
• Your return laid out per rate with the total to pay. You copy the figures into the Belastingdienst portal and mark the period as filed; CORA warns you if the books change afterwards.
• A customer who never pays: the OB is shown separately, with the date by which to ask for it back in writing.
• With your art. 2a decision switched on, half of the 9% OB paid at customs comes off your return, and a surplus moves to the next one.
• Guilders, dollars and euros side by side with exchange rates fetched every day, and a free read-only login for your accountant.

CORA costs from $20 a month and the first 14 days are free. See pricing or start your free trial.

This article explains the general rules and is not tax advice. For your own situation, check with the Belastingdienst Curaçao or your accountant.