WILLEMSTAD – While the Court of First Instance has allowed the Tax Receiver to maintain its seizure of Arco Iris Supermarket's assets, the underlying dispute over nearly ANG 336,000 in tax assessments remains unresolved.
Arco Iris argued that the Tax Receiver acted prematurely when it issued a payment order and imposed the seizure on June 20, 2025. According to the company, the tax assessments were not yet legally valid because the documents were dated June 25—five days after the payment order had been issued.
The court deliberately declined to rule on that legal argument, stating that the validity of the tax assessments must be decided in separate tax proceedings.
Instead, the judge focused solely on whether there was sufficient reason to lift the seizure pending those proceedings and concluded there was not.
The ruling, dated April 22, 2026, was issued nearly three months before a major fire severely damaged parts of the Arco Iris supermarket in the Abrahamsz area on July 10.
It remains unclear whether any of the assets that had been seized by the Tax Receiver were destroyed in the blaze. As a result, questions also remain about which items, if any, could still be sold should the government ultimately seek to recover the disputed tax debt through a public auction.
The fire occurred 79 days after the court issued its decision, adding another layer of uncertainty to a legal dispute that is still far from over. The courts have yet to determine whether the disputed tax assessments themselves are justified.