Aruba BBO on Stripe Digital Services in QuickBooks

A software company in Denver sells a $30 monthly plan. A teacher in Oranjestad signs up, then a few of her colleagues, and by spring the company has forty Aruban subscribers. Since 1 January 2023 that has been a tax event from the first one. Aruba's Belastingplan 2023 moved electronic services to the place where the customer lives, and Stripe's Aruba entry is blunt about the result: a remote seller must register if there is "at least one transaction" of digital services to private individuals in Aruba within 12 months.

What makes Aruba different from every other first-sale country is the shape of the tax. There is no VAT. There are three separate turnover levies on the same sale: the BBO (2.5 percent), the BAVP (1.5 percent) and the BAZV (3 percent), for 7 percent combined. They are filed on one monthly return, due on the 15th, on a cash basis, in florins. And the law measures the base as everything you receive, which raises a question about the 7 percent itself that no guide we found has answered.

This guide covers what changed in 2023, who has to register, the three levies, why business customers are left out, the monthly return, paying from abroad, refunds, a worked month, and what reaches QuickBooks. It is bookkeeping guidance, not tax advice. Quotations from Dutch sources are our translation.

Acodei brings Stripe Tax amounts into QuickBooks, so the Aruban levies you collect are already in your liability account when the month closes. Start a free trial.

What Aruba changed for foreign digital sellers in 2023

Aruba's turnover tax, the belasting over bedrijfsomzetten (BBO), has existed since 2007. Under the ordinance as consolidated in 2018, a service was performed where the seller "lives or is established" (Article 7). A US software company selling to an Aruban consumer was outside it.

The Landsverordening Belastingplan 2023, published in the Afkondigingsblad on 21 December 2022 (AB 2022 no. 161) and in force from 1 January 2023, changed that for one group of services. In the Departamento di Impuesto's (DIMP) own summary:

"Telecommunications, radio, television broadcasting and electronic services are performed at the place where the person to whom the service is provided lives or is established."

DIMP spells out the consequence: "if a foreign supplier provides these services to an Aruban customer, these services will from now on be subject to the levy of BBO/BAVP and BAZV."

The definition of an electronic service is broad. DIMP describes it as "services in digital form and services delivered via the internet or a digital network," with examples such as "building a website or giving access to and downloading music, films or games, including gambling." A SaaS subscription, an online course or a downloadable app sits inside it. If you want the general concept behind the rule, our place of supply entry walks through it.

Stripe's Aruba entry matches this from its side. It supports only digital products in Aruba, only for remote sellers "without a physical presence in the country," and lists a registration threshold of "1 transaction."

Who has to register, and how

Two statements set the rule:

• DIMP: "The foreign entrepreneur who performs taxable services in Aruba and who does not live or is not established in Aruba and has no permanent establishment here, is obliged to register with the tax authority."
• Stripe: registration is required "if there is at least one transaction of digital goods and services provided to private individuals in Aruba within a period of 12 months."

Neither source gives a money threshold for a foreign seller. Aruba does have a small-business rule, the kleineondernemersregeling (KOR), which since 2023 relieves an entrepreneur from filing if annual turnover is Afl. 50,000 or less. DIMP's KOR page frames it for "the owner of a sole proprietorship" (eenmanszaak), and the Belastingplan describes it as applying to the ondernemer-natuurlijk persoon, an individual. It isn't a threshold a foreign company can stand behind.

A fiscal representative is optional, for now. The Belastingplan says foreign suppliers "can" appoint a fiscaal vertegenwoordiger in Aruba, who then files and pays on their behalf. If you appoint one, you notify the Inspector and give the Inspector a copy of the authorization. The same passage lets the Minister of Finance make a representative compulsory "in certain cases" by ministerial regulation. Our tax representative entry explains how this works in countries where it is mandatory.

The registration route was built for local companies. DIMP's online form for a legal entity says to register "after you have registered the company with the Chamber of Commerce," and it issues a persoonsnummer, a seven- or eight-digit number that identifies your business in every DIMP system. A foreign company with no Aruban Chamber of Commerce number should contact DIMP directly (the registration desk is on +297 522 7423) or work through a representative, and keep the correspondence.

In Stripe. Add Aruba under Stripe Tax registrations once DIMP has registered you. Stripe can schedule a registration from a chosen date, but it only calculates tax from that date forward. Sales before it are yours to settle with DIMP.

Three levies on one sale: BBO, BAVP and BAZV

Stripe describes the Aruban charge as "three types of taxes," which it groups as "sales tax" because "these all follow the same rules":

Levy	Full name	Rate since 1 Jan 2023
BBO	Belasting over bedrijfsomzetten (turnover tax)	2.5%
BAVP	Belasting additionele voorzieningen PPS-projecten (public-private projects levy)	1.5%
BAZV	Bestemmingsheffing AZV (health insurance levy)	3.0%
Total		7.0%

The rates come from DIMP's rate page, which shows how the stack grew: BBO alone at 3 percent in 2007 and 1.5 percent from 2010, the BAZV added in December 2014, the BAVP added on 1 July 2018 (making 6 percent), and the BBO raised from 1.5 to 2.5 percent by the Belastingplan 2023. The timeline has no later change.

These are not VAT. There is nothing for a foreign seller to deduct against them, and DIMP describes each as a levy on the turnover you receive.

The question inside "everything received"

That last point has a consequence worth checking before your first return. The BBO ordinance defines the base, the vergoeding, as "everything that is received in respect of the supply of a good or the performance of a service" (Article 1, consolidated text). DIMP's rate page says the same in plain words: the base "is the total amount that you charge your customer," and "if your customer pays you more than you charged, that also belongs to the base."

Stripe adds 7 percent to an exclusive price. On a $30 plan the customer pays $32.10. Read literally, the amount received in respect of the service is $32.10, and 7 percent of that is $2.247, not $2.10. The gap is 0.49 percent of revenue: small per sale, but it is exactly the kind of difference that turns up in an audit years later, and DIMP can assess BBO for up to five years after the year it arose (ten if it was deliberate).

We found no DIMP guidance that addresses a foreign seller passing the levies on as a separate line. Ask DIMP in writing which figure it expects on the return, and keep the answer. The worked month below shows both.

Business customers: the reverse charge

The Belastingplan splits the rule by customer:

• Consumers (B2C): "the supplier is subject to the levy of BBO/BAVP and BAZV."
• Businesses (B2B): "the reverse charge applies." The Aruban business "is from now on required to pay the BBO/BAVP and BAZV on behalf of the foreign supplier that provides the service to him."

This is why Stripe says "sales to business customers in Aruba don't trigger any tax registration obligations," and why its obligations monitoring counts only "B2C sales of digital products." It is the same mechanism our reverse charge entry describes for VAT, applied to a turnover tax.

Stripe's customer tax ID table lists aw_tin, "Aruba Tax Identification Number," with the example 12345678, and marks its impact on tax calculation Yes: "Stripe Tax won't apply tax if this tax ID is provided." So the business number is what switches the tax off. Collect it for every Aruban business customer, and treat a customer without one as a consumer. Our Stripe customer tax ID entry covers how to collect it at checkout.

The monthly return: due on the 15th, on a cash basis

DIMP's filing page sets the rhythm:

• Monthly periods. "The BBO works with return periods of one month. You must therefore complete and submit a return every month."
• Due on the 15th. The return and the payment "must be received by Departamento di Impuesto no later than the 15th of the month following the period." A 15th on a weekend or holiday moves to the next working day.
• Nil returns. File "even if you carried out no activities in a particular month." Our nil return entry explains why a first-sale registration keeps producing them.
• One return for three levies. DIMP's deadline calendar lists "BBO/BAVP/BAZV" as a single monthly filing, made through its BOi portal.

Cash basis is the default. "The BBO is based on returns under the cash system. This means that you owe BBO at the moment you receive the payment for your product or service." On request, DIMP can allow the invoice system instead (Article 9(3)), and then you must issue an invoice within 15 days after the month of supply. Our tax point entry covers the difference between the two.

For a card subscription the two bases land in the same month, because the charge and the invoice happen together. For an Aruban invoice with payment terms they can split: under the cash basis the levies belong to the month the money arrived. Compare the payment date against the month Stripe's export puts the transaction in before you fill in the return.

Late or missing returns lead to an additional assessment with a penalty, DIMP says.

Paying from abroad, in florins

The return is in Aruban florins (Afl.). DIMP says that when it converts US dollars to florins it "uses a rate of Afl. 1.79." For a seller pricing in USD, the florin figure is the dollar figure times 1.79. Our filing currency entry covers how Stripe reports this.

Payment from abroad goes by bank transfer. DIMP's payment page points to a list of accounts held for the Ontvanger der Belastingen (the tax collector) at four Aruban banks, with SWIFT codes. Three rules on that page shape your bookkeeping:

1. "You are yourself responsible for the amount owed being in Departamento di Impuesto's account on time." A wire sent on the 14th is a risk.
2. "Take the exchange difference into account." The florin amount has to arrive, not the dollar amount you sent.
3. "Bank charges are for the customer's account." Fees come out of your money, not the tax.

DIMP's offices accept only florins on a local debit card, so a foreign seller pays by wire.

Refunds don't net on next month's return

In VAT countries a refund usually comes off the next return. Aruba's ordinance does it differently. Article 13 lets the Inspector "grant a refund of tax on request" where "a payment is repaid because of a reduction of the price" or the claim has become uncollectible. DIMP's guidance on correcting returns says the same thing from the other side: send a letter with the correct amounts for the whole year, and if you paid too much over the year, file a request for a refund.

So when you refund an Aruban consumer, Stripe's tax reports show the refund in the month you issue it. DIMP's process is a refund request, not a negative figure on that month's return. Ask DIMP how it wants refunds from a foreign seller handled, and track them separately in the meantime.

Refund through a Stripe credit note either way. It refunds the levies with the price, and it gives you the line-level record you need for the request and for QuickBooks.

A worked month for a software company

A Colorado company sells project-management software, priced in USD with tax added on top. It registered with DIMP, added Aruba in Stripe Tax, and files monthly on the cash basis. March 2027:

1. 40 consumer subscribers at $30 a month. $1,200.00, plus 7 percent: $84.00 (BBO $30.00, BAVP $18.00, BAZV $36.00).
2. 5 annual consumer plans at $300, renewed and paid in March. $1,500.00, plus $105.00 (BBO $37.50, BAVP $22.50, BAZV $45.00).
3. An Oranjestad dive shop on a $200 team plan, with its number stored as aw_tin. Stripe charges no tax. The dive shop accounts for the levies itself under the reverse charge.
4. A refund. A February subscriber cancels on 4 March and gets $30.00 and $2.10 back through a credit note.

What Stripe collected: $84.00 plus $105.00 is $189.00 of Aruban tax on $2,700.00 of consumer sales. Stripe's export for March also shows the refund, so its net Aruba figure is $186.90.

What goes on the March return, reading the base as the price only: turnover Afl. 4,833.00 ($2,700 × 1.79), levies Afl. 338.31. The refunded $2.10 isn't netted. It goes into the refund request described above.

The other reading. If DIMP treats the $189.00 the customers paid on top as part of the vergoeding, the base is $2,889.00 (Afl. 5,171.31) and the levies are Afl. 361.99, about $13.23 more than Stripe collected. That is the figure to settle with DIMP before you file.

The return and payment are due by Thursday 15 April 2027. The company wires enough for Afl. 338.31 to arrive, and its bank charges $35 for the wire.

What reaches QuickBooks, and what you book yourself

Acodei syncs the tax Stripe Tax calculated, so Stripe Tax has to be active in your Stripe account and your Aruba registration has to be set up in Stripe first.

For a US QuickBooks company, Acodei's method is the Tax Product: a non-inventory "Sales Tax" product mapped to a liability account, with all Stripe Tax amounts on a sale rolled into one line on the QuickBooks invoice or sales receipt. QuickBooks' Sales Tax Center doesn't let third parties create official tax rates for US companies, which is why the product approach is the one that works there. It needs Stripe Tax used with Stripe Invoicing or Stripe Checkout. The three Aruban levies arrive as one tax amount, and you split them for the return from Stripe's reports. Each $30 subscription in item 1 arrives with one $2.10 tax line, not three.

For a QuickBooks company outside the US, Acodei can map individual Stripe tax rates to QuickBooks tax codes you set up. Where more than one Stripe tax rate applies to a single line, Acodei can map them to one QuickBooks group tax rate, so the total tax on the line matches Stripe. A group code with 2.5, 1.5 and 3 percent components mirrors the three levies.

The refund, item 4. Acodei's documentation says a refund issued through a credit note carries the line-level tax breakdown. A refund made on the payment alone may not show how much was tax, and that case can need a manual adjustment in QuickBooks. Aruba gives you a second reason to use credit notes: the $2.10 has to be claimed back by request, and the credit note is your evidence.

The payment. When the wire leaves, reduce the tax liability by the dollar value of Afl. 338.31 ($189.00), post the $35.00 to bank charges, and post any difference between the dollars that left and the florins that arrived to the account your accountant uses for exchange gains and losses. The same liability account holds US sales tax and any other foreign tax from Stripe Tax, so note the Aruban slice each month. Our guide to reconciling the Stripe Tax report in QuickBooks covers the liability side, and the Stripe Tax itemized export entry lists the columns you filter on (country_code AW).

Until the refund comes back, the $2.10 sits as a receivable from DIMP, not as a reduction of the month's liability. Book it that way and the liability account will tie to what you actually paid.

If DIMP asks for the larger figure, the extra $13.23 wasn't collected from anyone. Book it as an expense, not against the liability Stripe filled, or the account won't tie to Stripe's report.

Common mistakes with Aruba's levies on Stripe sales

• Looking for VAT. Aruba has no VAT. The 7 percent is three turnover levies, filed together.
• Assuming the KOR protects you. It is written for individuals running a sole proprietorship, not foreign companies.
• Charging business customers. Store aw_tin and Stripe applies no tax; the Aruban business pays under the reverse charge.
• Filing quarterly. Periods are monthly, due on the 15th, nil months included.
• Netting refunds. The ordinance handles them by request.
• Sending dollars, not florins. The florin amount has to land, and the bank fee is yours.
• Using a general tax code. Stripe only calculates Aruban tax on digital product tax codes. See our product tax code entry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do foreign SaaS companies have to register for tax in Aruba?

Yes, if they sell to consumers. Since 1 January 2023, electronic services are taxed where the customer lives, and DIMP says a foreign entrepreneur performing taxable services in Aruba "is obliged to register." Stripe lists the threshold as one transaction to private individuals in 12 months. Sales only to Aruban businesses don't require registration.

What is the tax rate on digital services in Aruba?

7 percent combined: BBO 2.5 percent, BAVP 1.5 percent and BAZV 3 percent, the rates in force since 1 January 2023. They are three separate turnover levies, not a VAT, and they are reported on one monthly return. Stripe collects all three and groups them as sales tax.

Does Stripe Tax charge Aruban business customers?

No, if you store their Aruba Tax Identification Number. Stripe's tax ID table marks aw_tin as affecting the calculation, meaning Stripe Tax won't apply tax when it is present. Under Aruba's reverse charge, the Aruban business pays the BBO, BAVP and BAZV on the foreign supplier's behalf.

When are Aruban BBO returns due?

Every month, by the 15th of the following month, or the next working day if the 15th falls on a weekend or holiday. Payment is due by the same date. A return is required even in a month with no sales. The levies are owed on a cash basis unless DIMP has approved the invoice system.

Do I need a fiscal representative in Aruba?

Not today. The Belastingplan 2023 lets a foreign supplier appoint a fiscal representative to file and pay, and requires you to notify the Inspector if you do. It also allows the Minister of Finance to make a representative compulsory in certain cases by regulation, so check before you register.

Aruba in three numbers

Seven percent, the 15th, and 1.79. The levies are three taxes added up to 7 percent on consumer sales only, the return is due monthly on the 15th whether you sold anything or not, and every dollar becomes 1.79 florins on the form. The two things to settle with DIMP in writing are whether the 7 percent you collect is itself part of the base, and how it wants refunds from a foreign seller handled. Our guides to the countries that register you from the first sale, Bahamian VAT, Ecuadorian VAT and Uruguayan VAT cover the neighbors and the pattern.

Acodei syncs Stripe Tax into QuickBooks, so each Aruban month starts from the liability account instead of a spreadsheet. Start a free trial.