Our local accountant had some very interesting things to say wherein he gave us his opinions about the demands SZV was imposing on some of his clients. Companies are utilizing a loophole by filing zero for the wage tax and social premiums. It is expected that these companies also file “0” for the turnover tax over the same periods. SZV is not falling for this trick, however. According to our accountant, SZV requires companies to de-register employees that, due to the lockdown and the present economic crisis, are not being paid and to re-register those employees when things pick back…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – In a media release dated August 31, 2020, Party for Progress members of Parliament Melissa Gumbs and Raeyhon Peterson expressed their disappointment and agitation at what they call the ‘horse-leading’ of Parliament and the country to a conclusion dreamed up in the minds of the governing coalition, which they say is made evident by the fact that the July 28, 2020, advice from the Council of Advice has not been provided to Parliament due to being “missed” by the Prime Minister’s office. “It is totally and completely unacceptable,” Gumbs said, “that Government has had this advice since the…
PHILIPSBURG — Following last week’s media reports that the Point Blanche Prison Inmates Association expressed its concerns about the health conditions at the institution, United St. Maarten Party (USP) Members of Parliament (MP’s) Akeem Arrindell and Claudius “Toontje” Buncamper sent a letter to Justice Minister Anna Richardson on Monday, requesting clarification on the concerns brought forward by the Inmates Association. The association, represented by Sjamira Roseburg sounded, what is being referred to as “an even louder alarm” urging the powers-that-be to “get serious about restructuring the prison system or risk facing a situation they will not be able to control.”…
~ Legal jurisprudence needed whether lockdown is force majeure or not ~ PHILIPSBURG — We asked local accountants to provide us with their Top Three Tips for businesses on St. Maarten to survive this economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One local accountant sent us an extensive email on the following issue. In this article, we would like to discuss this highly important topic for many businesses on the island impacted by government lockdown measures. According to the accountant, SZV is now requesting companies to write out (read: fire) employees because companies have been filing “0” in wage taxes…
Dear Editor, A great many yachts migrate from the Northern Caribbean to the Southern Caribbean to evade the hurricane belt every year. This year with the Covid danger all the territories closed their borders and for a while the yachts were without a hurricane-free destination. There are currently four destinations for yachts outside the hurricane belt being Trinidad, Grenada, Curacao and Aruba where storage and service facilities exist. Trinidad and Curacao kept their borders closed and created no opportunity for quarantine to allow boats to be stored and serviced. Grenada and Aruba created opportunities for yachtsmen to quarantine for two…
PHILIPSBURG – The article StMaartenNews.com published Friday, August 29, 2020, under the headline ‘Pension fund toys with plan to reduce pensions’ has triggered a reaction from APS director Nadya Croes-Van Putten that should put the minds of pensioners at ease: ‘At no time has APS ever been in a situation that would require such a measure to be implemented.” Our article was based on a compliance audit from the General Audit Chamber. This report states literally on page 13 under 4.2: “The current recovery plan (of 2019) contains far-reaching measures (including reduction of the pension).” In its preface, the audit…
~ No jurisprudence on ‘no work, no pay’ policy of employers during lockdown ~ PHILIPSBURG – The department of labor affairs and social services has a top-ten of non-compliant employers, department head Peggy-Ann Dros said in an interview with Keoma la Hamer that was published on Youtube. At the same time, Dros said that “not all employers are the same,” thereby indicating that there are also companies that do stick to the rules when it comes to respecting the rights of their employees. Dros, who started working at the department seven year ago, made clear that during a disaster, like…
THE HAGUE – The third tranche of liquidity support will only become available after St. Maarten has met all the conditions attached to the second tranche and after there is a clear political agreement about the conditions attached to the third tranche. “Liquidity support will not become available before that,” State Secretary Drs. Raymond Knops (Kingdom Relations) writes in a 30-page document containing answers to questions from Dutch parliamentarians. Knops also made clear that emergency assistance will continue with or without the government’s agreement to the conditions for liquidity support. “The Netherlands will not abandon the most vulnerable citizens.” The…
~ Seniors are ready to unite; taxation on pension income a serious issue ~ PHILIPSBURG — Senior citizens who are pensioners are ready to unite as taxation on pension income is become an intolerable issue for them. Members of Parliament will be soon be approached to tackle this situation once and for all. “We need to see laws put in place to protect pensioners.” says a pensioner and senior citizen who has been called on to be the spokesperson for pensioners in this position. The spokesperson who wishes to remain anonymous for now, says they will be waiting until a…
PHILIPSBURG – The General Pension Fund APS is not financially sound and never has been, it appears from a compliance audit published by the General Audit Chamber. While the APS coverage ratio significantly improved in 2019 from 97.6 to 103.8 percent, it still falls short of the minimum ratio of 105 percent that is required to cover its general and investment risks. Related: Insuffient progress on APS’s domestic investment projects The result of local investments is dragging the pension fund’s performance down. Since 2015 these investments have shown a negative result of around 1 percent every year. In 2018 the…
