THE HAGUE--The Dutch Tax Department (Belastingdienst) is willing to assist St. Maarten in tax matters.

Dutch caretaker State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten stated this in a letter that she sent to the Second Chamber on Wednesday. In this letter, she evaluated her visit to the Windward Islands from August 17 to 20 this year.

Since her visit, there has been contact between the Dutch Tax Department and St. Maarten. The Dutch Tax Department can, against cost price, render assistance to the island, she announced.

This assistance is needed, because St. Maarten has insufficient knowledge and capacity in the area of taxes. In a meeting with St. Maarten's Executive Council on August 19, government had indicated that it wanted to reform its tax system.

St. Maarten wants to do this by introducing indirect taxes, realise improvements in the levying and collection of taxes and, if necessary, change the existing taxes and tariff structure.

Financial management is an important pillar for a new country like St. Maarten, said Bijleveld-Schouten. "St. Maarten will have to give content to that, both in quality and in quantity," she said.

She said this legitimises the Kingdom Law Financial Supervision for Curaçao and St. Maarten. "This law provides sufficient starting points and instruments to maintain constructive relations between the Netherlands and St. Maarten," stated Bijleveld-Schouten.

She explained that in the coming period there would be intensive contact between the Council for Financial Supervision CFT and St. Maarten to come to a "good view" on the island's financial situation and to assist with drafting a budget for 2011.

"More concretely, CFT will be present several days per week to advise and support the Financial Department of St. Maarten's Government. Knowledge will be exchanged on the drafting of the budget and the progress reports," she stated.

In the meeting with St. Maarten, the State Secretary further pointed out that local government wouldn't be able to escape "difficult policy decisions in the expenditures area."

In her letter, Bijleveld-Schouten also elaborated on her visit to Saba and St. Eustatius and the talks that she had held there with the local administrations. She further elucidated on the progress that was made in the constitutional trajectory to dismantle the Netherlands Antilles, the creation of Countries Curaçao and St. Maarten, and the integration of the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba into the Netherlands as 'public entities' per October 10, 2010.

The State Secretary updated the Second Chamber on the state of affairs concerning, among other things, the Kingdom Laws, the execution legislation, the Constitutions and organic laws for Curaçao and St. Maarten, the legislation for the BES islands and the plans of approach for Curaçao and St. Maarten to guarantee the execution of tasks that the new countries cannot fully carry out.