WILLEMSTAD- November 3, 2016– The Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) recently called a press conference to provide information on their apartment certification program as well as on compliance with sales-tax regulations by the lodging sector. Participating in the press conference were also the Tax Inspectorate, the Curaçao Innovation & Technology Institute (CITI) and the CHATA.
Sales-tax due by the lodging sector
The CTB announced that, starting last month, a team of the Tax Accountants Bureau (BAB, by its Dutch acronym) began visiting apartments being rented out to tourists, to check for compliance with sales-tax obligations. The sales tax applies to short stays in hotels, private apartments and timeshare units. As announced by the government of Curaçao towards the end of 2015, the Tax Inspectorate is in charge of levying the 7-percent sales tax (formerly the room tax) as of January 1, 2016. Payments are due before the 16th of each month. The collection is handled by the Tax Receiver’s Office (Landsontvanger), while objections must be filed with the Tax Inspectorate. For more information, please visit the OB Department (first floor) at the Tax Inspectorate, or go to www.belastingdienst.cw or call at 734-2570.
Apartment certification
With regard to apartment certification, it was announced that only apartments that, by January 1, 2017, have registered and paid to participate in the CTB’s audit program will appear on the CTB website: www.curacao.com. As of January 1, 2017, any apartments that are currently featured on the website and which have not yet registered to participate will no longer appear on the website. In May of this year, the introduction was announced of a certification program for the tourism and hospitality sector. The program is aimed at promoting and maintaining quality among the businesses operating in this sector. As part of the program, an audit program was introduced, applying to apartments rented out to tourists. The program is based on locally and internationally accepted quality standards. Quality audits will be carried out by the CITI every two years. Besides being featured on www.curacao.com and enjoying the promotional opportunities involved, registered businesses enjoy several other benefits, such as participation in local and international marketing activities and use of the program’s quality-assurance logo. The certification program’s execution will be handled by the CITI. To register, please visit www.citi.cw or call at 738-6299.
