St Maarten Seeks To Reduce Its Income Tax Burden
Saint Maarten Democratic Party member Maria Buncamper-Molanus has announced that premiums
for comprehensive insurance will once again become tax deductible as part of
a broader package of measures aimed at cutting the income tax burden. The amendment has been included in an initiative amending the federal income
tax ordinance which was approved by parliament last week. This initiative seeks to bring about a 12.5% reduction in income tax on wages
in two phases, and a reduction in tax on interest earned from savings accounts
at local banks to 5% from 10%. The proposal to include the deductibility of comprehensive insurance premiums
was introduced by Buncamper-Molanus late last year with the unanimous support
of lawmakers. The government decided to eliminate insurance premiums from the list of items
that could be deducted from tax several years ago in a bid to lift revenues.
However, the unpopular measure added to the cost of obtaining mortgages to buy
homes, particularly after Hurricane Luis led to a dramatic rise in premium rates
in 1995. A comprehensive report in our Intelligence Report series giving background tax and residence information on many of the key offshore jurisdictions is available in the Lowtax Library at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/subs_reports.asp and a description of the report can be seen at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/description_report4.asp
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