Guides → BUYING PROCESS

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 September 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.

Transfer tax and property tax are the law as published by Aruba's tax office (checked September 2026). Notary and registration are market practice; get a written quote.

The pleasant surprise for many buyers: the agent's commission is 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. Since 1 January 2023 it works like an income-tax bracket: the first slice is taxed at 3%, everything above the threshold at 6%.

Landsverordening overdrachtsbelasting, Art. 12. Before 2023 the 6% applied to the whole price once you crossed the threshold; some broker and notary pages still describe the old rule. The threshold can be inflation-adjusted by the minister but hasn't moved.

Two practical notes. First, the tax is charged on the purchase price or the cadastral value, whichever is higher, so an unusually low sale price doesn't help. Second, the same rule applies to residents and non-residents; there is no first-time-buyer or new-build discount.

Notary fees, explained

In Aruba, a civil-law notary (notaris) handles the legal transfer, and the buyer picks and pays the notary. Fees for standard deeds follow a scale published by the court, and the law allows the notary and client to agree fees for the rest, so quotes do vary a little between offices. There's no mystery "junk fee" pile the way there can be at a US or Canadian closing, but do ask for a written quote.

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 for the transfer deed, plus about 1% more for a mortgage deed if you finance locally. Turnover tax (7%) is added to the notary's own fee.

Registration and the small stuff

After the deed is signed, the transfer is entered at the land registry (Kadaster). The registration fee and the scatter of smaller items (title searches, official certificates, sometimes sworn translations if your documents aren't in Dutch or English) are billed through the notary as disbursements. Individually tiny; collectively budget about USD 1,000–2,000 on a mid-range purchase.

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, but the rule differs depending on whether you live here.

Law as of 1 January 2026 (BDO Aruba). The old AWG 60,000 exemption was abolished in the 2019 reform, which the Dutch Supreme Court upheld in 2023. Values are reassessed every five years; the tax is payable in four instalments.

On a USD 400,000 condo a non-resident owner pays about AWG 4,300 (≈ USD 2,400) a year. If you're used to US county property taxes, that 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. What matters for your planning:

• Rental income is taxable in Aruba. Non-resident owners file an annual Aruban return; the income is taxed at the normal progressive rates (21%, 42% and 52% brackets in 2026, after a tax-free allowance of AWG 30,000).
• Deductible costs include maintenance, the property tax, insurance, mortgage interest and management. Keep clean books.
• Short-term guests pay a 12.5% tourist levy plus USD 3 per room per night (toeristenheffing and bijzondere belasting verblijf). You register with the tax office, file monthly and remit it yourself; Airbnb and VRBO do not do it for you. A mandatory registration number for short-term rentals is being rolled out, announced as compulsory from February 2027.
• Turnover tax (BBO/BAZV/BAVP, 7% combined) can apply to rental revenue, so get local tax advice before the first booking.
• 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.

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 (AWG 716,000 at the 1.79 peg), paying cash:

So the "400k" condo is really a "425–430k" decision, about 6–7.5% on top. Add a local mortgage and the mortgage deed plus bank fee push it to 8–9%. That gap is exactly what catches buyers who budgeted the sticker. Know it going in, and it's a non-event.