Netherlands Antilles Cleans Up Registry For Offshore And Onshore Companies

Mandy Robinson, Tax-news.com, London

31 January 2001

The Netherlands Antilles' Department of Permits and Licences has announced a major project to review its registry and there are already 2,600 registered businesses that are suspected of being inactive.

Based on a list published by the Department of Permits and Licences of offshore companies registered before 1988 and onshore companies registered before 1990, companies that appear dormant have been given until mid-February to come forward and clarify their position.

Patricia Philips, head of the Permits and Licences Department, told the local press: 'Persons who know of these companies or who are (or were) associated with them, should come in and let us know whether they are active or not ...the main purpose of this project is the inactive companies. That's our focus really.' She explained that if the listed companies are in operation the government could scoop an extra NAf. 3.5m per year in revenue.

A major obstacle in the way of department's progress in making contact with the companies, says Ms Philips, is that their addresses are non-specific: 'a lot of these old licences simply have St. Maarten or Philipsburg stated as the address,' she said. In addition to this is the problem that some people have been operating from their own homes and there is no physical location identified with their business.

Ms Philips says many businesses may be considered dormant simply because they have failed to pay the annual business licence fees. These vary from NAf. 1,250 to NAf. 6,250. Directors are charged between NAf. 312 per year (sole proprietor) to NAf. 1,250 if the director lives overseas. If there is more than one director, a fee of NAf. 625 per year applies.

Under the business licence ordinance, those found guilty of violition can expect a penalty of one month imprisonment or a fine of NAf. 500 which is doubled if the law is violated twice with a period of two years.

'Failure to comply would mean that the procedure to cancel your licence would be pursued. This could have a lot of consequences for the company so I wish to emphasise to the public that they should react within the specified time, for they would be out there operating illegally and that of course has its consequences,' said Ms Philips.

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