Closing Costs in Aruba: What a Buyer Pays Beyond the Purchase Price

Agreeing a price is not the same as knowing what you'll wire. In Aruba the gap between the two is mostly one line item — transfer tax — and it depends on a test many buyers get wrong.

Transfer tax turns on primary residence, not nationality.

If the home will be your sole main residence, transfer tax is charged in two bands: 3% on the first AFl 250,000, then 6% on the excess. For other property — a second home, or a home bought while you keep a main home elsewhere, even elsewhere on Aruba — it's 6% on the whole value where that value is above AFl 250,000.

Note what the test is not. It isn't about being foreign. A foreigner relocating to Aruba, where this becomes their only main home, may qualify for the banded rate; a local who keeps another main home does not. To use the lower rate you have to be able to show it, so ask your notary or tax advisor what evidence proves it.

The same house, two answers.

On a US$400,000 home: as a primary residence, 3% × US$143,000 = US$4,290 plus 6% × US$257,000 = US$15,420, for US$19,710. As other property, 6% × US$400,000 = US$24,000. A US$4,290 difference that rides entirely on a question you should settle before you sign. (Figures as of 2026 — confirm current rules.)

What else sits on the closing statement.

Notary fees, which are typically largely set by law, and registration fees. Ask each notary for a written fee quote up front and ask what it includes — title research, the deed, registration. Budget too for an inspection or engineer's report, legal fees, and currency exchange or account setup.

The item to put in writing.

Seller-side items — outstanding property tax and any long-lease canon owed up to the transfer date — are typically settled seller-side at closing and deducted by the notary from escrow. But that is custom, not a guarantee. Make the sale-purchase agreement state plainly who pays them, rather than relying on how it's usually done.

The takeaway.

Settle your transfer-tax status before you sign, get a written notary quote, and put the seller-side arrears in the agreement. Do that and there are no surprises left at the table.