St. Maarten Private Eye

Guys, the tax office on sxm has been taxing tips etc for years already, this is nothing new. Basically the tax office places the burden of proof on the tax payer to prove other than they claim.

For example the tax office has been forcing for instance the restaurants to declare the tips by estimating that tips represent 25-30% of the restaurant income (which it isnt) and then have the tax payer prove otherwise, its actually kind of criminal on the part of the tax office. But if the tax payer didnt file anyway, they are basically screwed.

Another area where the tax office is going hog wild, is for instance the turnover tax law interpretation. Namely they are trying to get companies which are currently exempt (shipping / airline industry etc) to pay by stating stuff like, if they are not physically in these areas then they are not exempt from the TOT, this is also criminal cause we have no designated free zones like Curacao.

The above and other examples known to me, all proves that the tax guys in CUR and SXM are trying to find ways to shaft the tax payer and usually win cause the average tax payer cannot afford to fight the "goverment" and give up real quick and agree to payment plans they cant live up to!

The whole government budget is based on faulty information and worse, they all know it!

The Patriot