🇨🇼 Curaçao
Curaçao offers a regulated Caribbean base with an E-Zone regime and a long history in online gaming and international services.
Who it suits
Who it does not
Living
A Dutch Caribbean island with a pleasant climate, Dutch and English widely used, and ties to the EU through the Netherlands.
Business
The private limited company (BV) is common, and the E-Zone regime supports export-oriented and e-commerce businesses.
Tax
Standard profit tax is around 22%, but qualifying E-Zone companies benefit from a reduced effective rate. Gaming and international services are well-established sectors.
Figures are indicative and change over time. We confirm the current rules, rates and requirements for your specific situation before you commit.
How incorporation works
- Entity and purposeDecide what the company is for before choosing the form. A BV is the standard vehicle; the E-Zone regime, investment-company status and a gaming licence each carry their own conditions, and they are not interchangeable.
- Name and notaryClear the name and instruct a Curaçao civil-law notary. Incorporation is by notarial deed, in the Dutch tradition.
- Local managementArrange the local director. Curaçao expects resident management, and for any regime that depends on substance this is not a formality.
- IncorporationThe notary executes the deed and the company is entered in the Chamber of Commerce register.
- Tax registrationRegister for profit tax, turnover tax and wage tax where relevant.
- Regime applicationWhere the business qualifies, apply for E-Zone admission or investment-company status. Each is an application with conditions attached, not a box to tick.
- Licensing, where relevantGaming and financial services go to their regulator first. Curaçao gaming has been reorganised under a dedicated gaming authority, and the old sublicence model no longer applies.
- Bank accountOpen the account. Curaçao banking is slow and selective, and most international businesses pair the company with an EMI elsewhere.
What we need from you
- Apostilled passport copies for every shareholder, director and beneficial owner
- Recent proof of address for each of them
- Source-of-funds and source-of-wealth evidence
- A description of the business, its markets and its counterparties
- Two or three preferred company names, in order
- The share split and the intended capital
- Details of the proposed local director, or instructions to arrange one
- An apostilled power of attorney for the notary where you will not attend
What you end up with
- Notarial deed of incorporation
- Entry in the Chamber of Commerce register, with the company number
- Articles of association
- Share register
- Tax registrations
- Registered address and local management
- A corporate pack banks and counterparties will accept
Every year after that
- A profit tax return
- Annual financial statements, prepared and filed as the company type requires
- Turnover tax and wage tax returns where registered
- The Chamber of Commerce annual fee, and keeping the registered details current
- The register of ultimate beneficial owners
- Regime-specific reporting where E-Zone, investment-company status or a licence applies
Common questions
What is the actual tax rate?
Profit tax runs on a tiered basis: a lower rate on the first band of profit and around 22% above it. Reduced and zero rates exist — E-Zone, investment-company status, and regimes for specific activities — but each is granted on conditions rather than by default.
What happened to Curaçao gaming licences?
The regime was rebuilt. Licensing moved to a dedicated gaming authority under the new gaming ordinance, and the old master-licence-and-sublicence model has been wound down. Anyone still operating on an old sublicence needs to know where they now stand, and the answer is usually that they need a licence of their own.
Do I need a local director?
In practice yes. And for the E-Zone, investment-company status or a gaming licence, management on the island is part of what the regime is being granted for.
How long does incorporation take?
Weeks rather than days. It is a notarial process, due diligence is thorough, and a regime or licence application adds to it.
Is Curaçao in the EU?
No. It is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and an overseas territory associated with the EU, not a member state. Dutch law shapes its legal system, but the single-market rules do not apply.
Will I get a local bank account?
Possibly, slowly. Most international businesses here run on EMIs, or on banks in the jurisdiction where the underlying business sits, and treat a Curaçao account as a secondary objective.
Set up your company in Curaçao
Tell us about your business and we will confirm whether Curaçao is the right fit — and handle the full incorporation.
- A reply within one working day
- The first consultation is 30 minutes
- Confidential, no obligation