Curaςao's Parliament has adopted legislation on 7 June 2018 stating that additional documentation is required by Curaςao entities that qualify for Country-by-Country reporting ("CbCR").
In order to be compliant with this new law, multinational companies might be obliged to provide a country- by country report, a master file and a local file. This law has been introduced retroactively for fiscal year 2018 so all companies must comply in 2019.
Country by Country reporting
These tax law changes will help Curaςao to stay compliant with the regulations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This reporting will also help with transparency about possible profit shifting in multinational structures. If an entity in Curaçao is the ultimate corporate parent of multinational enterprise that operates in another jurisdiction besides Curaçao then complying with CbCR is mandatory. This requirement only applies to a multinational enterprise with consolidated revenues exceeding ANG 1,500,000,000 or approximately EUR 750,000,000.
The CbCR filing must include information (specified in the law) about every jurisdiction where the company is active. It must be provided within 12 months from the last day of each financial year. Also, if the ultimate parent is not required to file the documentation in its jurisdiction and the multinational enterprise has not assigned another surrogate ultimate parent to file elsewhere, then the Curaçao entity must file the documentation.
Master and local file
Part of the new law concerns the master file and local file that needs to be available for the Curaςao Tax Department. The requirements for this type of reporting is also based on consolidated revenues of a multinational entity. Any Curaçao entity that forms part of a multinational structure with consolidated revenues exceeding ANG 100,000,000 (or EUR 50,000,000) must prepare a master file and a local file. The master file must contain general information about transfer pricing of the multinational enterprise. The local file must contain detailed information about intergroup transactions which a local entity participates in.
Penalties
If the report is not provided or incomplete, there can be penalties for companies. The fines range from ANG 100,000 (EUR 50,000) up to ANG 250,000 (EUR 125,000).
How can we help?
Many countries around the globe are enacting similar legislation so it is important for multinational companies to understand the specific regulations for Curaςao. While the information required may be similar, it is always a complex process when reporting for various entities.
These new laws are another set of compliance obligations that companies in Curaςao must abide by. It is important to partner with local experts that can help with filing the CbCR and the master and local file.
TMF Curaçao has the experts that understand the complexities of local laws, regulations, processes, and requirements. To find out how we can support your company through these tax changes in Curaçao, please contact us.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
