TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Turnover Tax on The Dutch Side?

We return to SXM on Saturday. In recent years, my spouse & disagree whenever we encounter this 15% charge on the Dutch Side.....one wants to tip 20% above that while the other says no way! We are well aware of the protocol and "pour boire" on the French Side so that isnt an issue.

Can somebody please clarify what the real protocol is when we see this line item on our tab on the Dutch Side?

Thanks in advance!

I consider the 15% a service charge a.k.a. tip and just add a wee bit more if the service was decent....doesn't matter what the establishment calls is,,but...it comes down to personal preference in the end. I just can't justify adding 35% (15% SC + 20% tip) to the cost of a meal

Turn Over Tax (TOT) is NOT to be shown as a line item on a bill and has nothing to do with any service charge, gratuity, tip, whatever you want to call it on the Dutch side.

If any form of add-on is included, consider that a service charge and do what you are comfortable with when it comes to adding more. IF you ask, most servers will not be straight forward with their answer as to where it goes and you may be duped into adding way more than you would otherwise.

I agree with boucharda, add a little more IF you want and had good to excellent service but you are in no way obligated to do so.

Agreed 100% with what JD and boucharda said.

Excellent and thank you so much. Good to have clarification as we have seen this at some establishments and not at others.

Great info from this forum as always!

I won’t debate the TOT at all since the government says it’s NOT to be charged to the patron but is meant to be absorbed by the restaurant.

The added 15% sc really irks me. For the most part, since I’m given no choice in the matter, I consider it a mandatory tip regardless of the quality of the meal and/or service. I get that it’s shared among the staff and think that’s as it should be and if our service is VERY good we will usually slip the wait person a little something extra since it is our habit to generally tip twenty percent or more. But at the same time, that mandatory sc often leads to less than wonderful demeanor and service on the part of the staff.so I very much resent the addition.

In a graduate school international business accounting class I was taught that, in Europe (and most of the rest of the world), the word "turnover" is the same is "sales." So on a European income statement, the top line is "Turnover." Not "Sales," as in the USA.

So a "turnover tax" is the same as a "sales tax."

"Service charge" or "Service fee" is a gratuity. Turnover tax is tax.

I agree 100% with all stated. It really irked m when Jimbo's would add the 15% SC and list an additional 5% TOT on the bill. When I questioned it he said he said "I don't care if it is legal or not". That attitude made me not want to return there again. Hope he's changed this practice when he opens his new restaurant. I also remember a server at Pineapple Pete tell me that the 15% SC was actually 10% SC and 5% TOT. I just hate it when they try and take advantage of customers.

And that is why it is best to NOT ask.

Yep. That's why I don't ask anymore. I already know what I'm going to do.

One of our friends made the mistake of asking! The waiter said the 15% is a service charge and you tip on top of that!!’I was already irritated that we made a reservation and was given the worst table in the place and the excuse was - the other open tables can be put together “IF” a large group comes!!!! It’s a very popular place in Porto Cupecoy and the food is very good. But these two issues are making me think twice about going back!!!!

I wouldn't think twice about going back if that happened to me. A one and done. Too many other places that have a better attitude and service to customers like the new Roma in Maho that states on their menu in simple terms that a SC will not be added and gratuities are left to the patron to decide.

Here's how we avoid the 15% "service" charge: We go to places that don't include it. There are plenty of excellent places that don't.

Pretty much eliminates many nice places on the Dutch side we frequent. I don't mind the added 15% but don't ask me for more.

Scubaman--agreed, that would eliminate too many places that I enjoy going. I DO mind the 15%, but I just pay it and move on and don't leave any more.

We stay on the French side and have 90+% of our meals there, where it's not so prevalent. But when we do encounter it we do as you do, Carol. Even worse is when they lie and claim that it's a tax.

That's why we never ask. If they add 15%, that's what they get and we don't ask any questions.

Exactly what we do now.

What is the name of the place? We are going to be there next month. I want to avoid the place and we go to Porto Cupecoy a lot.