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BUYING PROCESS

Taxes & Closing Costs in Aruba: The Real Numbers

Every fee, every tax, one table. Transfer tax tiers, notary and registration costs, the annual property tax, and what Aruba takes on rental income, so there are no surprises two weeks before you sign.

By Jakob Jakubov, every winter on Aruba since 2021 · Updated August 2026 · 12 min read

The one-page closing-cost table

If you read nothing else, read this. These are the costs that hit at purchase, on top of the price you agree with the seller.

Ranges follow the official notary scale and transfer-tax tiers: we re-check them every winter against the notary and the Kadaster.

The pleasant surprise for many buyers: the agent's commission is typically the seller's cost, not yours . The unpleasant one: the transfer tax is the biggest single line, and it climbs with value.

Transfer tax, tier by tier

The transfer tax (overdrachtsbelasting) is the one that moves the most, because it's tiered by property value. The idea is simple: cheaper property pays a lower percentage; above a value threshold, the rate steps up.

Bands and rates are placeholders: the exact threshold and percentages are the single most important thing on this page to verify against current law before you rely on them.

Two practical notes. First, because it's value-based, a modest condo and a beachfront villa are not in the same bracket, so when you're comparing two places, compare the all-in number, not just the sticker. Second, transfer tax is calculated on the property's value as assessed for the transfer, which is normally the purchase price, but on an unusually low sale price the tax office can assess on market value instead.

Notary fees, explained

In Aruba, a single government-appointed notary handles the legal transfer, and their fee isn't a free-for-all, it follows a published scale tied to the transaction value. That's a good thing for a buyer: there's no mystery "junk fee" pile the way there can be at a US or Canadian closing.

The notary's fee covers real work: verifying clean title, confirming the land type and remaining lease term, drafting the deed of transfer, holding your deposit in escrow, and registering the sale. For how all that fits into the timeline, see the notary process guide. Expect roughly 1–2% of the price.

Registration and the small stuff

After the deed is signed, the transfer is entered at the land registry (Kadaster), that's the registration fee, usually around ~0.5%. Then a scatter of smaller items: title searches, official certificates, and sometimes sworn translations if your documents aren't in Dutch or English. Individually tiny; collectively worth a line in the budget of maybe ~0.25%.

Annual property tax (grondbelasting)

Once you own, there's a yearly property tax – grondbelasting, assessed on the property's value. The headline for most North American buyers is that it's gentle: typically a fraction of a percent, and levied only on value above an exemption threshold , so lower-value homes can owe very little.

Treat both figures as unverified: the exemption and the rate are exactly what we confirm each winter.

If you're used to US county property taxes, this line will feel small. That's genuinely one of the quiet attractions of owning here.

Rental income tax

If you rent the place out, and near Palm Beach a lot of owners do: Aruba taxes the rental income. How it's taxed depends on whether you hold the property personally or through a structure, and on your total income, so there's no single clean percentage to quote. What matters for your planning:

• Rental income is taxable in Aruba, at the source.
• It's also reportable in your home country (the IRS for Americans, the CRA for Canadians), with foreign-tax relief so you're generally not taxed twice.
• Legitimate expenses (management, maintenance, some depreciation) usually reduce the taxable amount, so keep clean books.

Before you model returns on a rental, read renting out your property for the occupancy and rules side, and pair it with your accountant. The tax is real but manageable; the mistake is leaving it out of the yield math entirely.

Closing costs are a one-time surprise. Rental tax is the one you'll forget every single year if you don't build it into the model now.

A worked example

Let's put numbers to it. Say you buy a condo for USD 400,000 (roughly AWG 720,000 at the peg). Rough, illustrative, verify-before-you-rely:

So the "400k" condo is really a "~433k" decision. That gap, the ~8% on top in this upper-tier example: is exactly what catches buyers who budgeted the sticker. Know it going in, and it's a non-event.