New online portal SVB
The Social Insurance Bank has set up an online portal for employers. This is a digital and secure self-service portal for employers registered with the SVB. Through this portal, they can safely exchange information with the SVB and manage their employee administration in a user-friendly and efficient way. Via the portal, employers can view an overview of employment relationships, submit employee changes, and access and manage company information. Every employer registered with the SVB is required to apply for access to the employer portal. If a business employs staff, it is legally required to register both the business and its employees with the SVB. Employers who are not registered with the SVB cannot create an online account to access the employer portal. The SVB has announced that, as of May 1, 2026, a period of intensive monitoring and enforcement will begin regarding employers’ compliance with their obligations under the ZV/OV regulations. Employers are required to provide all data relevant to ZV/OV to the SVB in a timely and accurate manner. This includes registering and deregistering employees (within two working days of hiring and termination, respectively), reporting wages and wage changes before the 15th day of the month following the month in which the change occurred, submitting company and employee data, and timely filing the collective wage statement. Failure to comply with these legal obligations may result in fines of up to 5,000 guilders per employee, doubled in cases of repeated violations.
Simplified objection procedure
The Tax Authorities have been working with a mandatory portal for several years. Recently, the objection procedure has been simplified for entrepreneurs who have not submitted their turnover tax or payroll tax returns on time. When an entrepreneur submits the missing return electronically via the online portal after receiving an assessment, this submission is automatically treated as a notice of objection against the imposed assessment. With this adjustment, entrepreneurs no longer need to file a separate notice of objection. This reduces administrative burdens, prevents duplicate actions, and contributes to more efficient processing within the Tax Authorities.
Preliminary calculation income tax
For the 2025 tax year, a preliminary calculation has been added at the end of the return, allowing taxpayers to immediately see a possible refund or additional payment. This feature has been introduced to structurally speed up and simplify the filing process. However, the tax inspector will determine the final assessment after a substantive review of the return. The preliminary calculation may differ from the final amount, as it does not yet take various rules and situations into account. For example, it does not consider the offsetting of provisional assessments, the application of a special tax rate for severance payments, or the avoidance of double taxation on foreign income. It also does not account for the allocation of tax amounts between spouses under prenuptial agreements, the application of the pensionado rate of 5% or 10%, transferred child and elderly allowances, or incidental income in the year of emigration or immigration. Additionally, if the AOV/AWW contribution income exceeds 100,000 guilders, the additional 1% contribution on the excess is not included. Furthermore, the BVZ contribution is shown in all cases, even when an exemption applies.
Pre-filled personal income tax return
The pre-filled personal income tax return has also been made available in the online portal. With this feature, the online return forms are partially completed automatically using data already known to the Tax Authorities or provided at the time the return is created. This includes information such as wage and pension data from employers and benefit institutions, as well as paid or refunded AOV/AWW contributions. The taxpayer remains responsible for verifying and, where necessary, correcting the pre-filled data. Information that becomes available after the return has been created is not automatically added. If a taxpayer’s wage data has not yet been pre-filled, this may indicate that the employer has not yet submitted the collective wage statement and/or that it has not yet been processed. Late submission of this statement can therefore lead to unnecessary delays in processing the income tax return.
Inbox online portal
A digital message box has been implemented in the online filing portal, allowing customers to receive correspondence digitally. This inbox is already being used for various invitations to file returns and for assessments related to income tax and social security contributions. It is therefore important to check it regularly in view of applicable deadlines.
Conclusion
The improved digital interaction enables taxpayers to access their tax data quickly and securely. This speeds up work processes and reduces dependence on paper-based communication. These improvements are expected not only to increase efficiency but also to reduce administrative errors and delays. The modernization of the digital portals of the Tax Authorities and the SVB thus represents an important step toward a more digital and efficient future for tax services on the island. Although the rollout still presents challenges, these portals provide a solid foundation for further improvements in fiscal services in Curaçao.
By Lennart Huijsen, partner and tax advisor at Grant Thornton Curaçao, email lennart.huijsen@cw.gt.com, and Haesle Soerka, tax advisor at Grant Thornton Curaçao, email haesle.soerka@cw.gt.com.