On July 14th State Secretary of Finance, Frans Weekers, sent a document to the Executive Councils of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba with his proposals to bring about some changes in the BES tax structure on the short term. This is a result of his visit to the Caribbean Netherlands.
In the week of June 21st the State Secretary made a working visit to among other, St. Eustatius, Saba and Bonaire and has held discussions there with Executive Councils, Island Councils and representatives of the business community.
Series of proposals
With that Weekers has met his commitment to the Dutch Senate that he would talk extensively with the governments and business community about the experiences and bottlenecks within the new tax structure for the Caribbean Netherlands. The media focused attention on these discussions and Weekers had announced that within a month he would come with a series of proposals. This has now happened.
His proposals are a response to the bottlenecks mainly in the General Consumption Tax (ABB) and the Wage and Income Tax mentioned by the various parties.
Speedy reaction asked of Executive Councils
State Secretary Weekers has requested the Executive Councils to respond fast, so that within a few weeks his civil servants with the Executive Councils and their advisors can sit around the table to make definitive proposals. The changes agreed upon could then be implemented on the short term.