TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Car rental taxes in St. Maarten

Just wondering what is the current tax rate on car rentals on the Dutch side.It seems that different rental companies are charging varying rates. In some cases the tax amount is much more than the actual price to rent the vehicle.

I believe it's at 11%

There is a 10% local tax on rental cars on the Dutch side. There is also a flat $25 fee which is listed as a surcharge and I understand to be an airport concession fee.

Elizabeth--And there you have it, with the first two responses to the question. There doesn't seem to be an answer to the question. I personally don't worry about what the tax rate is, or what anything else costs, individually. We get a quote which includes taxes and insurance and compare those final prices and go from there. It will drive you crazy trying to compare costs, unless you just compute the FINAL cost, regardless of how you arrive at it.

Correct. Final line on the rental is all I concern my self with. Hertz charged a one time 15.00 airport fee for the four week rental plus the tax.

And another vote for not bothering with the detail; just compare total quotes.

I actually do only compare the final prices with taxes and insurance, but a few quotes have shown each item individually and it was interesting to see how the government tax rate varied from 10% to 20%. Some also charged an additional 5% surcharge and a $15-$18.75 airport fee. I really want someone knowlegable to inform me of the proper government tax on rental cars. Surely there is a rental agent who actually knows this information and charges the correct amount. In most countries you can' t just charge whatever you want. There are actually rules to follow!

The breakdown just doesn't matter to me; interesting that it's important to you. All I care about is the final price, and that, plus service, is what I base my decision on.

I would think Kenney would respon to this. He should know the legal rate.

Elizabeth--I get where you're coming from, but I have to say there are some battles I don't care to engage in. Not worth my time..

Correct Carol . They have some people will rent there cars for $ 65.00 per week plus tax and when you touch their car , look for the big bill.

Three international car rental agencies (Avis, Hertz, Budget) all list the tax rate for car rental at 10%. They also list an additional Airport concession fee / administrative fee of $22.50 or $25.00. I only checked for rentals on the Dutch side of the island. That is as definitive as I have found as I was unable to find any government site listing the fees.


I do believe that the final cost is important but I also believe that knowing what goes into the makeup of that final price is also important. I have read many a discussion on this forum about tipping. I can remember 20+ years ago, when I was fairly new to visiting the island, that I would get a dinner bill, add 20% tip to the amount and move on. I would come to learn to look at my receipts before tipping because often enough restaurants would list a “tax” of anywhere from 12% to 20%. I would add my tip to these bills and these places were making a killing. I learned, and changed my habits accordingly.

Another example is property rental on the island. The government tax on non-timeshare vacation rentals is 5% but I have seen places try to charge as high as 25%. Some places will list this as taxes and fees but what these charges if you dont have an explanation. Currently a lot of VRBO property listers roll all their fees into a general grouping called “taxes” because most renters wont question the charges. The real-estate company on the island (that I rent from) lists taxes at 15%, but 10% of that is money that they use to pad their commission. I only pay 5% with them because I called them out on the issue and they decided they would rather have the twice a year rental from me and a standard commission than see my money spent elsewhere. I always leave the rental company an extra tip and they join us as our guests at least one evening for dinner on each trip. (two very nice women that are now our friends)

You shouldn't have to call them out if they are reputable honest people.

Even honest people “take a shot” and I don’t mind. I believe in the old adages that “knowledge is power” and “let the buyer beware”.

Those people, for example, that put a “service charge” or “tax” on my food bill, they usually use 15%. That 15% seems to be the standard if they are including an automatic fee on my restaurant bill. What they are really doing is screwing themselves because I never leave less than a 20% tip but I don’t leave anything extra if they build it in to the total.

Then there is pineapple pete that puts 15%sc and 5% tot on the bill.

As do many other restaurants. And , many servers are not honest when asked about the service charge.

Sorry I meant to say jimbo's not pineapple Pete that puts the 15 + 5 on the bill. To late for me to edit my post. Waiter did tell me at pineapple Pete the 15% broke down to 10% sc and 5% tot. I hate the dishonesty of some establisments and waiters.

The last two quotes I received for a rental, both from sponsors of this site, was "$xxx plus taxes and optional insurance". No defined final price. I guess I could have asked but it is NOT the norm for everyone to give a final quote

I have always received a final quote from hertz on SXM and every other rental I have had at other destinations. Agencies that don't provide that I figure have something to hide to bait and switch.

bdeeley--you bring up situations that are of concern, but not technically related to the subject of car rentals in general, and kind of really muddies up this thread.

boucharda--sure they may give you that quote, but then you respond and say you want a TOTAL price, including insurance, if you want it, and taxes. Obviously, they have to give it to you. This thread has been very useful in that respect, as some people may think that all people charge the same for taxes, and might not know to request a total quote.

That is exactly correct Lesley. Perhaps you could quote the proper rate of government tax so we all know the answer and can better judge accordingly. I know a few years ago when it was 8%, you always charged the correct amount.Thanks for contributing to this thead.

Officially it is 10%, however there will be additional fees added.

What kind of fees? Airport? How much? Etc and how much?

Who cares? As long as you get the bottom line it doesn't matter how they figure it. I have rented from Empress for 6-7 years and was never charged more than the reservation price.

Thank you Lesley.

I always receive an all-in quote from my preferred rental agency. And, when I was checking around for other quotes, if I didn't receive an all-in figure (which I usually did), I asked for it.

You are quite welcome to edit my posts and remove the offending material.

Don't think it was offending but off topic as mine was a few times.

So the 10% would be concedered the tip or part of the tip ?

NO. It is the official government tax as posted above by Kennys Car Rental.

Tip? For a rental car???????

I think Dick might have been referring to Scubaman's comment about the bill at Pineapple Pete's ("at pineapple Pete the 15% broke down to 10% sc and 5% tot.")

Yeah, probably. That was my point about inserting something in the thread that was off topic.