WILLEMSTAD - The Tax and Customs Administration is going to target notaries. This was announced by Minister of Finance Javier Silvania following a report on transfer tax withheld by civil-law notaries.  

An investigation has shown that various civil-law notaries structurally far exceed the statutory term with regard to the declaration and payment of transfer tax. This is the opinion of the Court of Audit of Curaçao (ARC). According to the minister, in some cases withheld tax is not paid until years later.  

The investigation took place from 2013 to 2018. According to the ARC, it is unclear for 2018 whether a total amount of 13.7 million guilders still has to be paid or whether it concerns exempt objects.  

The Court of Audit also states that several civil-law notaries are lagging behind in providing their registers for auditing. The report shows that the tax authorities almost never imposed fines on civil-law notaries if they exceed the legal terms.  

In August, the Inspectorate sent a letter to all civil-law notaries requesting them to present all overdue papers to the inspector by 1 October at the latest. A fine of one hundred guilders per week that the deadline is exceeded applies to deeds and reports that are submitted too late. The tax authorities have also imposed default penalties for transfer tax.