As of October 10, 2010, the Federal Government Level of the country the Netherlands Antilles – comprising the islands of Curaçao, St. Maarten, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba – ceased to exist. This entails that since the 10th of October 2010, the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprises of four constituent countries: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten, each having an autonomous status, subject to and in accordance with the Charter of the Kingdom of The Netherlands (“Statuut voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden”). The islands of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba – commonly referred to as the BES-islands or Caribisch Nederland – are all individual public entities (municipalities) within the country the Netherlands since October 10, 2010.
Since then, one of the objectives of Curaçao as an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands was to establish and implement the new tax organization “Nieuwe Belastingdienst Curaçao” (NBC). Starting with the integration of three existing tax institutions – Tax Inspectorate, Federal Receiver, and Island Receiver – with later phases including the Audit Foundation and consideration of the role of the Customs and Fiscal Affairs Departments.
Tax Reform Assessment
The Tax Reform Assessment project covered three areas and included the development of a Tax Reform implementation plan for each area: 1) fiscal policy and legislation; 2) Tax Department organization and administration (including workforce development); 3) information and communication technology.
BearingPoint provided the following services during the Tax Reform Assessment phase:
- Reviews, evaluations, and recommendations regarding (fiscal) policy, the organization structure, processes, and operations (including ICT) of the newly established Tax Department for the new country Curaçao after the dismantling of the country Netherlands Antilles
- Development of Tax Department entity-specific SMART indicators to be used to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of current operations, and to measure and evaluate progress towards Government of Curaçao sub-objectives over the longer run
- Development of white papers regarding the desired fiscal policy, tax administration and organization, and ICT (including technological and software requirements)
- Reviews and recommendations concerning the proposed NBC structure and operations (including ICT blueprint)
In the subsequent phases, leading up to the implementation of the Tax Reform, BearingPoint also provided the following services:
- Change management and (internal and external) communications support
- Preparation of detailed processes and procedures for each area of the Tax Administration
- Development of function descriptions based on the new organization structure and processes (together with a partner who was also in charge of the function assessments)
- Preparation and implementation of training for personnel
- Project Management Office to support the Project Leader from the government
