ABB Sint Eustatius: a practical guide for Statia businesses

On Sint Eustatius, ABB (algemene bestedingsbelasting) is the tax you add to your sales: 4% on services, 5% on insurance and 6% on goods — the goods rate only if you make those goods yourself. Returns go to the Belastingdienst Caribisch Nederland per quarter, within 15 days after the quarter ends, in US dollars. On an island where many businesses are run by one person, the first question is often whether you need to charge ABB at all. This guide starts there.

What is ABB on Statia?

ABB is the sales tax shared by the three BES islands: Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. The rules are the same on all three, the rates are not. ABB applies to services, to insurance, to goods made and supplied by a producer, and to goods brought onto the island. It works differently from European VAT: apart from producers, a business cannot deduct the ABB it pays to its own suppliers. ABB on your purchases is therefore part of your costs, and belongs in your prices.

What are the ABB rates on Sint Eustatius?

• Services: 4%
• Insurance: 5%
• Goods: 6% — only when supplied by a producer, and on import
• Exports by a producer: 0%
• Exempt supplies: no ABB

These are Statia's own rates. Bonaire's are higher (6% on services, 7% on insurance, 8% on goods), so take care with invoice templates, price lists or software that were set up for Bonaire.

I work on my own. Do I have to charge ABB?

Not necessarily. A sole trader, or a partnership of natural persons, with turnover of no more than USD 32,000 in a calendar year (excluding ABB) can be exempted. A handyman, a tour guide or someone doing bookkeeping from home may well stay under that limit. With the exemption you charge no ABB and file no periodic returns. A BV or NV cannot use it, whatever its turnover.

Do I charge ABB on the goods I sell?

Only if you are a producer. A producer makes goods from raw or auxiliary materials and sells them mainly to other businesses, from a space used for that. On Statia that could be a workshop making doors and window frames for builders, or a business casting building blocks for contractors — provided it fits that description.

A hardware store or a supermarket that resells imported goods is not a producer, and charges no ABB on those goods: ABB was already paid when they came onto the island. A producer, on the other hand, may deduct the ABB on raw materials, auxiliary materials and semi-finished goods that it bought from another producer or paid on import.

Tourists, off-island clients and the port: who pays ABB?

Visitors, clients elsewhere and shipping all bring work to Statia businesses, and the ABB rules are different for each:

• A service to a tourist is taxed at 4%. The dive or the guided hike you sell to a visitor is local, even though the customer lives abroad.
• A service to a business outside the BES — a shipping company based elsewhere, a firm on Sint Maarten, a client in the United States — falls outside ABB. You charge none.
• Goods that a producer exports from the island are taxed at 0%.

What about services you buy from off the island?

Here ABB works the other way round. When a business outside the BES invoices you for a service, it charges no ABB; you report the ABB yourself on your return and pay it. This is reverse charge. Say an engineer on Sint Maarten invoices USD 800 for a structural drawing: you report 4%, or USD 32. Because you cannot deduct it, that USD 32 is part of the cost of the job. Keep in mind that Bonaire and Saba are part of the BES, so a supplier there does not count as one from outside.

When is ABB due, and how do you file?

ABB becomes due when you issue the invoice — no later than 15 days after the month in which you did the work or delivered — or earlier, the moment any payment comes in. For a builder who takes a deposit before starting, the ABB on that deposit is due in the period the deposit arrives.

• Every ABB entrepreneur issues invoices. Above USD 5,000 for goods or USD 200 for services, both your CRIB number and your customer's must be on the invoice.
• Taxed goods and services may not be offered at prices exclusive of ABB.
• The tax office issues the return per quarter, and per month or per year only if it tells you so. Return and payment are due within 15 days after the quarter.
• Report in whole dollars, with the cents rounded down.
• File every quarter, even without turnover: a nil return is required.

Running a company on Statia: profit tax, dividends and annual accounts

A BES company with a residence ruling (vestigingsplaatsbeschikking) pays no profit tax. Without the ruling, it is treated as established in the Netherlands, and Dutch corporate income tax and dividend tax apply. The ruling can be requested, with up to 24 months' retroactive effect, if the company is small (turnover up to USD 80,000 and assets up to USD 200,000), holds at most 50% investments, or has at least three employees and real estate on the BES. If you are not sure your company has one, check before your first year-end.

With the ruling, dividends carry distribution tax (opbrengstbelasting) of 7.5% (5% before 2025). The company withholds it and pays it within 15 days after the quarter of the distribution; a quarter without a distribution needs no return, and dividends from a participation are exempt. Real estate is subject to property tax (vastgoedbelasting), assessed by the tax office without a return. Every company prepares its annual accounts within eight months after the year-end, and files them, certified by a director, with the Belastingdienst Caribisch Nederland within nine months — 30 September for a calendar year. There is no publication or audit, except for a large NV, and records are kept for ten years.

Mistakes to avoid on Statia

• Using Bonaire's rates by accident: 6% on services instead of 4%.
• Stopping ABB because turnover is small, before the exemption decision has come in.
• Losing sight of the USD 32,000 limit as the business grows.
• Not reporting reverse-charged ABB on invoices from Sint Maarten, Curaçao or further away.
• Counting ABB only when the client pays, instead of on the invoice or the deposit.
• Charging 6% on imported goods that you only resell.
• Skipping the nil return in a quiet quarter.
• Running a BV without knowing whether it has a residence ruling.

How CORA helps with ABB on Sint Eustatius

CORA is online accounting software for businesses in the Caribbean. When you choose Sint Eustatius, it uses Statia's rates — not Bonaire's — and the BES rules described here:

• ABB at 4%, 5% and 6%, 0% for exports by a producer, and a code for services to businesses outside the BES.
• Your quarterly return prepared in whole dollars, with the deadline on your dashboard.
• ABB reverse-charged to you on services from outside the BES added to your return, as a cost.
• For one-person businesses with the exemption: your turnover tracked against the USD 32,000 limit.
• For producers: the ABB on raw materials deducted. On invoices: a warning when a CRIB number is missing.
• For companies: a warning if the residence ruling is missing, distribution tax booked with each dividend, and a filing pack with director-certified annual accounts.
• Bank statements read from the PDF or export your bank gives you, and a free read-only login for your accountant.

CORA prepares the ABB return but does not file it: you copy the figures into the return of the Belastingdienst Caribisch Nederland and mark the period as filed in CORA, which warns you if the books change later. Payroll and property tax are not included. More on the Sint Eustatius page, or see the plans — from $20 a month, with the first 14 days free.

This guide covers the general rules. For your own situation, check the details with the Belastingdienst Caribisch Nederland or an accountant.