WILLEMSTAD - Both CASHA and CHATA are pleased to have taken notice that the Minister of Finances, Javier Silvania, will be acting against short term accommodation rentals that does not pay taxes. His plan to submit a law proposal in the second half of the year, for AirbnB to directly pay sales taxes, is a step in the right direction.
However, this is a small step, as AirBnB, especially in terms of sales, is just one of the online parties for accommodation rental. Other websites such as Booking.com, VRBO, Tripadvisor, Micazu and so on, also rent a lot of houses and apartments on the island, and often in more expensive segments. Additionally, there are many local rental companies, that on behalf of private owners, rent real estate to tourists. A lot of these companies also do not comply with sales taxes on their collected revenue.
Furthermore, let’s not forget that OB alone does not determine the largest expense for a legal accommodation rental. Additionally, they also comply with other taxes such as WB and/or IB, SVB and other social premiums.
Therefore, CHATA and CASHA would like to see the complete problem being considered instead of just the OB part, which is limited to AirBnB only. Only this way we’ll be able to call it a Level Playing Field.