Aruba Expat Tax Ruling Specialists
The Aruban Expat Ruling offers qualifying professionals a meaningful reduction on their income tax — and we have successfully filed over 100 applications.
Let us assess your eligibility. No obligation, no cost for the initial consultation.
Understanding the ruling
The Aruban Expat Ruling is a tax facility designed to attract qualified professionals from abroad. If you are recruited by an Aruban employer to fill a role requiring specific expertise that is scarce on the island, you may be eligible for a reduction on your taxable income for a fixed number of years.
The rationale is straightforward: expats incur real costs when relocating — flights, housing differentials, maintaining ties abroad, educating children in a new system. Rather than requiring you to document and substantiate each expense individually, the ruling provides a flat percentage reduction that is applied to your taxable employment income. This simplifies both the administration and the tax filing.
The ruling is granted by the DIMP (Departamento di Impuesto, the Aruban tax authority) and, once approved, applies for a maximum of [VERIFY: 5 or 10 years — confirm current maximum duration]. It is a well-established facility that has been used successfully by professionals relocating to Aruba from the Netherlands, the United States, Latin America, and elsewhere.
If you are considering a move to Aruba — or have recently arrived — this is likely the single most impactful tax planning opportunity available to you. The savings over the life of the ruling are substantial, and the application window is time-sensitive.
Eligibility
The ruling targets professionals brought to Aruba from abroad. Each application is assessed individually, but the general criteria are:
You must have been hired from outside Aruba to fill a specific position. Initiating your own move and then finding employment locally may not satisfy this requirement.
Your role must require qualifications, knowledge, or experience that is not readily available in the Aruban labor market. This is assessed case-by-case.
You must not have been a tax resident of Aruba in the [VERIFY: 5 years] immediately preceding your employment start date. Brief visits or tourism don't count as residency.
You need a formal Aruban employment contract. The ruling does not apply to freelancers, independent contractors, or directors of their own entities (though other structures may exist for those cases).
Your gross annual salary must meet or exceed the minimum threshold set by the tax authorities — currently [VERIFY: confirm current threshold, e.g., AWG 150,000 or equivalent]. This threshold is adjusted periodically.
Your employer must support the application and co-sign it. The employer must also be willing to cooperate with the administrative requirements of applying the ruling to your payroll.
Not sure if you meet all the criteria?
We can assess your situation for free — no obligation. Just reach out.
Tax benefits
Once granted, the expat ruling allows you to exclude a fixed percentage of your gross employment income from Aruban income tax. The exact percentage is [VERIFY: confirm current percentage — historically up to 15% or a specific bracket-based reduction]. This reduction is applied directly to your payroll, meaning you see the benefit in every paycheck — not just at year-end filing.
The ruling applies specifically to employment income earned in Aruba. It does not extend to investment income, rental income, or income from other sources. However, given that employment income is typically the largest component of a relocating professional's tax base, the impact is significant.
The ruling is granted for a maximum period of [VERIFY: 5 or 10 years] from the start of your Aruban employment. It cannot be renewed or extended beyond that period. If you leave Aruba and return, a new application would be required, and the prior-residency test would need to be satisfied again.
Illustrative example for a qualifying professional [VERIFY: figures are representative only]
| Without ruling | With ruling | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross annual salary | AWG 200,000 | AWG 200,000 |
| Expat reduction [VERIFY: %] | — | – AWG 30,000 |
| Taxable income | AWG 200,000 | AWG 170,000 |
| Estimated income tax [VERIFY: rates] | ~ AWG 55,000 | ~ AWG 44,000 |
| Annual tax savings | — | ~ AWG 11,000 |
| Total savings over 5 years | — | ~ AWG 55,000 |
[VERIFY: All figures are illustrative. Actual tax savings depend on individual circumstances, current tax brackets, and the applicable ruling percentage. These should be reviewed before publishing.]
Application process
The application is submitted jointly by the employee and the employer to DIMP. Timing matters: the application should ideally be filed [VERIFY: within X months of the employment start date]. Late applications are sometimes accepted, but this is at the discretion of the tax inspector and is never guaranteed.
Signed Aruban employment contract
Proof of prior non-residency (e.g., foreign tax returns, deregistration from Aruba)
CV or credentials demonstrating scarce expertise
Employer declaration confirming the need for foreign recruitment
Copy of valid passport or ID
Proof of registration in Aruba (census office)
[VERIFY: additional required documents — DIMP submission form, etc.]
Once filed, processing times vary. In our experience, a well-prepared application is typically processed within [VERIFY: 2–4 months, or current typical processing time]. Incomplete applications, missing documents, or cases requiring additional review can take significantly longer. If the ruling is approved, it can be applied retroactively to the start of employment — meaning any overpaid tax in the interim is corrected.
What to watch out for
We review many applications — both our own and those that come to us after an initial rejection. These are the mistakes we see most often:
The most common and most preventable mistake. Many expats don't learn about the ruling until they've been in Aruba for months or even years. By that point, the filing window may have closed. If you are considering a move to Aruba, get advice before you arrive — not after.
If you moved to Aruba on your own initiative and then found employment, the tax authority may argue you were not "recruited from abroad." The distinction matters. The strongest applications involve an employer who can demonstrate they actively sought a candidate from outside Aruba.
Saying "I have 20 years of experience" is not enough. The application needs to demonstrate that your specific skill set is not available in the local labor market. We help employers document this properly — including evidence of failed local recruitment attempts where applicable.
If you lived in Aruba at any point during the [VERIFY: 5-year] lookback period, you are likely ineligible. This catches people who previously worked on the island, left, and returned. Brief tourist visits are generally fine, but any period of tax residency is disqualifying.
Missing a single document can delay or sink an application. Inconsistencies between the employment contract dates, the census registration, and the application timeline raise red flags. We prepare a checklist for every client and verify completeness before filing.
The employer is a co-applicant. If they are unfamiliar with the process or unwilling to provide the necessary declarations, the application cannot proceed. We work directly with employers to ensure they understand what is required and why it benefits them to cooperate.
Our process
We handle expat ruling applications end-to-end. Here is exactly what we do:
We review your situation — employment contract, background, timeline — and give you a straight answer on whether you likely qualify. No cost, no obligation. If the ruling is not available to you, we will tell you upfront and discuss alternatives.
We prepare a complete application package: the formal request, employer declaration, evidence of scarce expertise, proof of prior non-residency, and all supporting materials. We verify every detail for consistency before filing.
We file the application with DIMP and serve as the primary point of contact with the tax authority. If the inspector has questions or requests additional information, we handle the response directly — you do not need to navigate the bureaucracy yourself.
Once the ruling is granted, we coordinate with your employer to ensure the reduction is applied correctly to your payroll. We also advise on the annual income tax filing to ensure consistency between the ruling and your personal return.
We have successfully filed expat ruling applications for professionals across a wide range of industries — from hospitality and finance to healthcare and technology. Our deep knowledge of the process and the requirements means a higher chance of approval and faster processing.
100+
Successfully filed
[VERIFY]
Max duration
Free
Initial assessment
Get started
Moving to Aruba or already here? Reach out for a free, no-obligation assessment. We will review your situation and let you know if the expat ruling applies to you — and exactly what it would mean for your tax position.
Franklinstraat 5, Oranjestad, Aruba · Mon – Fri, 9 AM – 5 PM