🇧🇶

Caribbean Netherlands

Last update: 2026-06-05
BQ
Pros
Use of the US Dollar providing monetary stability and eliminating exchange rate risks for international trade.
Absence of traditional corporate income tax, replaced by a simplified yield tax on distributed profits.
High level of personal security and legal certainty under the robust Dutch judicial system.
Cons
High cost of electricity and basic utilities due to geographic isolation and limited infrastructure scale.
Complex General Expenditure Tax (ABB) system and high import duties increasing operational costs for businesses.
Growing regulatory burden from the European Netherlands potentially stifling local entrepreneurial flexibility and autonomy.
Personal income
NONE
Corporate
NONE
Capital gains
NONE
VAT (standard)
NONE
i 10 PRIVACY GRADE
i 5.8 DIVIDEND PIPELINE
i 5.6 HOLDING
i 3.8 VERY LOW TAX
i 2 CRYPTO HAVEN
i 0.9 EASY CITIZENSHIP
VERYLOW TAX 3.8/10 HOLDING 5.6/10 DIVIDENDPIPELINE 5.8/10 CRYPTOHAVEN 2/10 PRIVACYGRADE 10/10 EASYCITIZENSHIP 0.9/10
01/08

Will Caribbean Netherlands tax what you earn?

income tax tax residency territorial system

NO. Caribbean Netherlands doesn't tax personal income, and doesn't reach for you when you settle. No withholding, no return, no centre-of-vital-interests test waiting to trip. Salary is a non-event here, both in the rate and in the paperwork.

Personal income taxi
NONE
no personal income tax framework
Income simulatori
N/A
no income tax framework — nothing to simulate
Tax residence testi
N/A
no formal tax residency test · matters mainly for citizenship / immigration tracks
02/08

Will Caribbean Netherlands tax what you own?

capital gains wealth tax inheritance dividends interest

NO. Caribbean Netherlands doesn't tax what you hold. No capital gains, no annual wealth assessment, no inheritance regime. The value sitting in your portfolio compounds untouched, and leaves it the same way it arrived.

Capital gainsi
NONE
no capital gains regime
Dividend taxi
NONE
no dividend tax
Interest incomei
NONE
no interest income tax
Wealth taxi
NONE
no annual wealth tax · no real-estate wealth tax · no net-worth assessment
Crypto · tax regimei
Regime
ZERO TAX
Rate
0%
In the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba), there is no capital gains tax or wealth tax for individual residents. Crypto gains for casual investors are generally tax-free as they do not fall under taxable income categories. However, professional trading, mining, or activities exceeding 'normal asset management' are taxed as income from business or other activities at a flat-ish rate of 30.4% (including social premiums).
Crypto-to-cryptoi
NEUTRAL
a swap is not a taxable realisation event
FATF travel rulei
NOT SIGNED
no information-sharing obligation on VASP transfers
Inheritance systemi
NONE
no estate tax · no heir-based duties · no succession tax framework. Wealth transfers across heir-classes are not taxed in this jurisdiction. Only standard probate / registration fees may apply.
03/08

Is it easy to run a company in Caribbean Netherlands?

corporate tax criminal liability public registry VAT IP box

YES. Caribbean Netherlands delivers the maximum operational chill: no corporate income tax on standard profits, no criminal liability for misuse of corporate assets, and non-public corporate registries. The state doesn't take a cut, doesn't put your intra-company flows on a prosecutor's desk, and doesn't drop your name into a public search box. VAT sits at n/a.

Corporate taxi
NONE
no corporate income tax framework
IP Box · Patent Boxi
NONE
no IP regime · IP income taxed under standard corporate rules
Misuse of corporate assetsi
NO CRIMINAL LIABILITY
N/A - Civil Matter
In the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba), the legal system follows Dutch principles where 'Misuse of Corporate Assets' (ABS) is not a specific criminal offense. While embezzlement exists under Article 334 of the Penal Code BES, it requires 'unlawful' appropriation. Jurisprudence holds that a sole shareholder-director cannot be prosecuted for embezzling from their own company if the entity is solvent, as the owner's consent negates the element of unlawfulness toward the company. Such acts are instead treated as civil breaches of fiduciary duty under Book 2 of the Civil Code BES or as tax irregularities.
Shareholders privacyi
PRIVATE
Kamer van Koophandel Bonaire (Chamber of Commerce Bonaire)
Directors privacyi
PUBLIC PAYWALL
Kamer van Koophandel Bonaire (Chamber of Commerce Bonaire)
Incorporation costi
Private Limited Liability Company
Besloten Vennootschap
Notary Fees (Statutory) USD 1,518
Chamber of Commerce Registration Fee USD 80
Business Establishment License (Vestigingsvergunning) USD 250
Professional Incorporation and Legal Services USD 1,500
Total USD 3,348
VAT standard ratei
NONE
no general VAT · no consumption tax framework
04/08

Is Caribbean Netherlands good for your holding company?

treaty network participation exemption withholding

NO. Caribbean Netherlands doesn't carry a treaty network, which makes it unsuitable as a holding jurisdiction. Any dividend flowing in or out faces full statutory withholding, and no domestic participation exemption can compensate for missing relief on the source side.

Territorial systemi
Individuals
WORLDWIDE
Corporates
TERRITORIAL
Individuals: worldwide income taxation regardless of source. Corporates: territorial principle — foreign-source profits generally exempt.
Participation exemptioni
100%
no minimum threshold · no holding period
CFC rulesi
NONE
no controlled foreign corporation regime · foreign-source corporate income out of scope
WHT · dividendsi
no withholding on outbound dividends
WHT · interest
no withholding on outbound interest
WHT · royalties
no withholding on outbound royalties
Tax-haven WHT
no punitive rate on record
Treaties signedi
0
active
Treaties pending
in negotiation
Tax treaty networki
origin · BQ 0% > 0% no treaty
Inspect a country
Hover any country on the map to read its withholding-tax treaty with BQ.
Country Status Dividends Interest Royalties
// no treaties match
05/08

What does it cost to come and go from Caribbean Netherlands?

exit tax territorial system dual citizenship

SOME. Caribbean Netherlands taxes worldwide income while you're resident, but there's no exit tax on the way out. The cost of leaving is mostly paperwork: unrealised gains follow you to the next jurisdiction untouched.

Exit taxi
NONE
no triggers active · residence change tax-free · no deemed-disposal mechanism
Dual citizenship
FORBIDDEN
naturalisation requires renouncing existing citizenship
Citizenship paths
Residence
Marriage
Birth
Descent
Investment
06/08

Will Caribbean Netherlands protect your privacy?

info exchange corporate registries

YES. Caribbean Netherlands has joined almost none of the major automatic-exchange frameworks (CRS, FATCA, CARF, MLI, MAAC), and its corporate registries are non-public. Account flows stay out of foreign hands; ownership stays out of public ones. Discretion is built into the system.

Multilateral reporting frameworks 0/10 active
CRS
CARF
FATCA
MLI
BEPS
MAAC
GLOBAL FORUM
EOIR
CRYPTO-CARF
CRYPTO TRAVEL RULE
07/08

Is Caribbean Netherlands itself a liability?

blacklists FATF standing

NO. Caribbean Netherlands carries no entries on any major blacklist, though it sits outside FATF membership. Counterparties may apply light extra due diligence, but no formal stigma attaches to dealing with it.

Blacklist exposure Clear everywhere
FATF
grey / black list
EU
non-cooperative list
FRANCE
ETNC list
SPAIN
tax-haven list
PORTUGAL
favourable regimes
BRAZIL
low-tax list
08/08

Will you feel free in Caribbean Netherlands?

press freedom crypto CBDC EU

Not enough data to assess civil liberties and financial freedom in Caribbean Netherlands.

Press freedom · RSF indexi
Central bank digital currencyi
NONE
no announced CBDC program · no pilot · no retail or wholesale prototype on record
SEE ALSO

Other jurisdictions worth comparing

Picked by similarity of strategic profile to Caribbean Netherlands. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.
NOTABLY MORE FAVORABLE Same family of strategies, higher total score.
NOTABLY LESS FAVORABLE Same family of strategies, lower total score.