How is the taxed fringe benefit for free housing worked out?

• Modified on: Fri, 2 Oct, 2026 at 1:11 PM

Sometimes an employer gives an employee a free place to live. Free housing counts as extra income. So an amount is added to the employee's wages, and tax is paid over it. This is called a taxed fringe benefit. (A fringe benefit is something extra an employee gets on top of their pay.)

How much is added depends on the country. Find your country below.

Curaçao

This applies when the employer gives the employee a free home to live in as their main home. The employer can either own the home or rent it.

If the employer owns the home
Each year, 4.8% of the value of the home is added to the wages. This is the value the home would sell for on the open market.

If the employer rents the home
The amount added is 57.6% of the monthly rent, each month.
(This comes from the rule: 4.8% of 144 times the monthly rent, per year.)

This rule only applies if:

• the rent contract is in the name of the employer, and
• the employer pays the rent straight to the landlord.

A lower amount is possible, but only with approval
The amount can also be 48% of the monthly rent. (This comes from 120 times the monthly rent instead of 144 times.)

But you may only use 48% if the Tax Authorities have approved it for you. This approval is called a ruling. Without an approved ruling, always use 57.6%.

Example (rented home)

• The monthly rent is XCG 2,000.
• 57.6% of 2,000 = XCG 1,152 per month is added to the wages.
• With an approved ruling: 48% of 2,000 = XCG 960 per month.

Please note: Celery is not responsible for tax bills that come from using this wage code the wrong way.

Suriname

The amount added is 7.5% of the employee's yearly wages paid in money.

In practice, the Tax Authorities accept it if the 7.5% is worked out over the gross salary only. That is why Celery works out the 7.5% over wage code 10 "Gross salary".

Sint Maarten

The amount added depends on how high the monthly rent is:

For the technical version: these percentages come from the rules below, worked out per year.

• Rent up to USD 1,250: 100 × monthly rent × 4.8%
• Rent USD 1,250 to USD 2,000: 120 × monthly rent × 4.8%
• Rent USD 2,000 or more: 140 × monthly rent × 4.8%

Example

• The monthly rent is USD 1,500.
• This falls in the middle group, so you use 48%.
• 48% of 1,500 = USD 720 per month is added to the wages.

Aruba

For Aruba, please see the law attached to this article, article 4, paragraphs 1 to 5.

BES (Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba)

The BES Tax Authorities have confirmed that the full rent is added to the wages.

BVI (British Virgin Islands)

If the employer pays the rent
The full rent amount is added to the wages. Use the wage code "Taxed fringe benefit paid/free housing".

If the employee lives in a home the employer owns
15% of the employee's gross salary is added to the wages. Use the same wage code.

What counts for the 15%:

• It does include overtime and bonuses.
• It does not include other taxed fringe benefits, like the one for a company car.

The 15% starts from the period you turn on the wage code. It then keeps going every period, up to and including December.

Example

• An employee earns 3,000 gross salary per month, plus 500 in overtime.
• 15% of 3,500 = 525 per month is added to the wages.

Guyana

For Guyana, the amount depends on two things:

• how big the home is (in square feet), and
• whether the home comes with furniture or not.

Find the size of the home in the table. Then multiply the number of square feet by the rate. The result is the amount added to the wages each month.

(Sq. ft. means square feet. This is a way to measure how much floor space a home has.)

Example

• The employee lives in a home of 1,500 sq. ft.
• The home has no furniture.
• 1,500 falls in the second row, so the rate is $16.00.
• 1,500 × $16.00 = $24,000 per month is added to the wages.