What changed in Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten's crypto business licensing regime is still a draft, and that gap is closing

Crypto tax and legal status

Privately held crypto is untaxed by default, three triggers pull it into ordinary income tax

Crypto tax and legal status

Stacked up honestly, Sint Maarten is not a corporate tax-saving destination in 2026

Moving your company

A 10 percent dividend withholding tax is proposed, its actual entry into force is genuinely unresolved

Moving your company

The tax-exempt company is dead, and the tax holiday was never built for a business like yours

Moving your company

A 5 percent turnover tax on gross revenue, with no input credit, is the real killer for an online business

Moving your company

Profit tax runs 34.5 percent, the highest headline corporate rate in the Caribbean

Moving your company

The BRNSM governs Netherlands-Sint Maarten, the old BRK does not apply here anymore

Moving your company

You have exactly 1 year to elect voluntary Dutch pension insurance after you leave

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

The exit tax that actually bites is Dutch, and the BRNSM extends its reach to 10 years

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

Sint Maarten itself charges no exit tax and no wealth tax

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

There is no Sint Maarten citizenship, naturalising here gives you full Dutch and EU nationality

Permanent residency and citizenship

Marketed investor and pensionado residence routes could not be confirmed against an official source

Residency routes

Every non-Dutch relocator needs a permit renewed annually, with indefinite status after 5 years

Residency routes

For a Dutch national, relocating is the same legal act as arriving

Residency routes

A durable stay can pull Sint Maarten's mandatory employment rules into your foreign contract

Employment law

An employer cannot dismiss without prior government permission

Employment law

Minimum wage is XCG 10.93 an hour from 1 January 2026

Employment law

The EHIC does not work here, and Dutch health cover ends the moment you emigrate

Healthcare coverage

There is no residence-based universal health cover here, only employment-gated SZV insurance

Healthcare coverage

The EU 25 percent and 49.99 percent telework thresholds do not exist in this corridor

Social security

AOV pension entitlement is residence-based over 45 years, not built from your contributions

Social security

The ZV health insurance wage ceiling has been frozen at XCG 120,000 since 2022

Social security

SZV premiums stack to 26.5 percent of pay once you are on Sint Maarten payroll

Social security

No social security coordination exists between the Netherlands and Sint Maarten, none at all

Social security

The ex-patriate regime removes specific reimbursements from wage tax, it does not cut the rate

Personal income tax

The penshonado 10 percent regime is real for over-50s, but the statute is stricter than the marketing

Personal income tax

The BRNSM day matrix: all three conditions must hold, or the Netherlands loses the taxing right from day one

Personal income tax

Six income tax bands run from 12.5 percent to 47.5 percent, already including the surcharge

Personal income tax

Construction work is carved out of the remote-worker exemption entirely

Personal income tax

Rotating consultants through a partnership does not multiply the 183-day allowance

Personal income tax

183 days or fewer paid by a foreign employer, Sint Maarten income tax is nil, automatically

Personal income tax

Non-residents are only taxed on a closed list of Sint Maarten-source income, and labour performed here is on that list

Tax residency

A real home or real ties here make you a resident taxed on worldwide income, whatever your day count

Tax residency

Sint Maarten has no 183-day residence test, only where your life is actually centred

Tax residency

Every non-Dutch nationality needs a work permit or a self-employed residence permit, with real penalties for skipping it, unless an exemption applies

Right to work

A Dutch national admitted by law usually does not need a separate work permit, unless a landsbesluit says otherwise

Right to work

Sint Maarten never built a digital nomad visa, and its tax fix is not an immigration fix

Immigration and visa

The general tourist baseline is 30 days, extendable, and roughly 80 nationalities need no visa at all

Immigration and visa

The reported 90-day visitor window for EU, Canadian and Australian nationals conflicts with the statute

Immigration and visa

The reported 6-month visa-free window for Dutch and US nationals conflicts with the statute

Immigration and visa

Which side of the island you actually live on decides almost everything

Immigration and visa

You need the paperwork proving your status, not just the status itself

Immigration and visa

Dutch nationals are admitted by law, but only once three conditions are actually proven

Immigration and visa

An EU passport gives you no right to stay past the visitor window or to work in Sint Maarten

Immigration and visa