SZV Premiums in Sint Maarten: AOV, AWW, AVBZ, ZV & OV Explained

When employers on Sint Maarten talk about "payroll deductions," they usually mean two very different things bundled together: the wage tax that goes to the Tax Office, and the social-insurance premiums that go to SZV. The SZV side is where most confusion lives, because it isn't a single line — it's a set of separate premiums, each with its own purpose, its own wage base, and its own split between what you withhold from the employee and what you pay on top as the employer. This guide explains each one in plain English so you understand exactly what you are contributing, and why, every month.

What is SZV?

SZV — Sociale & Ziektekostenverzekeringen — is the government agency that administers social and health insurance on Sint Maarten. Where the Belastingdienst (the Sint Maarten Tax Office) collects wage tax (loonbelasting), SZV is the counterpart body responsible for the national insurance schemes that fund pensions, care, and coverage for workplace injury and illness. As an employer you interact with SZV from the moment you hire: you register your business and your employees, you calculate the correct premiums each pay period, and you remit them alongside your monthly declaration.

Because these schemes are statutory, participation isn't optional. Every employee on your payroll is enrolled, and the premiums are a mandatory cost of employment rather than a benefit you choose to offer. Understanding what each one funds makes the deductions on a payslip far less mysterious — for you and for your staff.

AOV & AWW — old-age pension and survivors

AOV (Algemene Ouderdomsverzekering) is the general old-age pension scheme. It funds the state pension that residents receive once they reach pensionable age, and it is one of the cornerstones of the island's social safety net. AWW (Algemene Weduwen- en Wezenverzekering) is the closely related survivors' scheme — it provides for the widows, widowers, and orphans of a deceased insured person. In payroll practice the two are usually administered and referenced together as "AOV/AWW."

AOV/AWW is a shared premium: a portion is withheld from the employee's wages and a portion is paid by the employer. It is calculated on wages up to an annual ceiling, so earnings above that cap don't attract additional AOV/AWW. Because there is a ceiling, higher-paid employees reach the maximum contribution partway through the year — a nuance that trips up manual calculations if it isn't tracked correctly.

AVBZ — long-term and exceptional care

AVBZ (Algemene Verzekering Bijzondere Ziektekosten) is the insurance for exceptional and long-term medical costs — the kind of prolonged or specialised care that ordinary health cover isn't designed to absorb. Think of it as the scheme that stands behind chronic conditions, extended treatment, and long-term care needs.

Like AOV/AWW, AVBZ is a shared premium split between employer and employee, expressed as a percentage of wages. It applies broadly across the workforce and is a standard line on the SZV side of every payslip. The employer share and the employee share are each remitted through the monthly SZV declaration.

ZV — health / sickness insurance and the wage threshold

ZV (Ziekteverzekering) is the sickness / health-insurance scheme. It provides medical coverage and sickness benefit for employees, and it is largely funded by the employer. The distinctive feature of ZV is the wage-threshold concept: the scheme is designed for employees earning below a statutory wage ceiling. Employees whose salary sits under that threshold are covered by ZV; employees earning above it fall outside the compulsory ZV scheme and typically arrange coverage through private health insurance instead.

This threshold matters in practice. As an employee's salary rises across the ceiling, their status can change from ZV-insured to privately insured, which affects both the premiums you remit and the coverage they hold. It's one of the reasons a raise or a new hire's salary band has to be checked against current SZV rules rather than assumed.

OV — accident insurance

OV (Ongevallenverzekering) is the accident-insurance scheme covering workplace injury. If an employee is hurt in connection with their work, OV is the mechanism that provides for the associated benefits and costs. Unlike the shared premiums, OV is carried entirely by the employer — there is no employee deduction for it. It is the clearest example of a cost that sits on top of gross salary rather than inside it, and one that owners often overlook when they estimate the price of a new hire from headline pay alone.

Who pays what — employer vs. employee split

A frequent misunderstanding is that every SZV premium comes out of the employee's pay. In reality, the premiums are shared unevenly, and some are the employer's alone. The employee funds their share of AOV/AWW and AVBZ. The employer funds its own share of those same schemes, plus the bulk of ZV and the whole of OV. This is exactly why the true cost of an employee runs meaningfully higher than their salary line — a gap we quantify in the true cost of an employee in Sint Maarten.

Exact percentages, ceilings, and the ZV wage threshold are set by law and updated periodically. CaribTax applies the current-year figures on every run.

Registering with SZV and monthly remittance

Before your first payroll run you register as an employer with SZV, which issues the employer number you reference on every filing, and you enrol each employee in the schemes. From there, the premiums follow the same monthly rhythm as wage tax. After each payroll period you calculate the premiums due, report them, and remit both the employee shares you withheld and the employer shares you owe — generally in the month following the payroll month, alongside your combined declaration (aangifte loonheffing). We cover the setup end-to-end in our guide to registering as an employer in Sint Maarten.

What happens if premiums aren't paid

SZV premiums are not a soft obligation. Late or missing remittances attract interest and penalties, and persistent non-payment invites closer scrutiny and enforcement. Because the employee shares you withhold are money collected on SZV's behalf rather than your own funds, failing to pass them on is treated seriously. The safest position is simple: calculate correctly, file on time, every single month. The cost of getting deadlines wrong is laid out in our 2026 payroll deadlines and penalties calendar.

How CaribTax handles SZV

CaribTax — the tax advisory division of BrightPath Caribbean — manages the full SZV side of payroll for Sint Maarten employers: employer and employee registration, correct AOV/AWW, AVBZ, ZV, and OV calculations on every run, the employer/employee split applied accurately, compliant payslips, and on-time remittance alongside your monthly declaration. You approve; we file. It removes the penalty risk and takes the premium-by-premium detail off your plate entirely. Explore the full Sint Maarten payroll service or request a quote using the form above.