List of EU tax havens

By: Josep Navarro

The first European black list of tax havens

On Tuesday 5 December, the ministers of economy and finance of the European Union (EU) will have to take action and adopt the first European black list of tax havens, identifying international jurisdictions that do not cooperate in the fight against fraud and tax evasion. A crucial exercise, according to Brussels, to recover the credibility lost after the recent scandals that have uncovered the existence of systemic and global practices of aggressive fiscal engineering, for the benefit of large fortunes and multinationals that have managed to elude the payment of millions in taxes...

In total, ministers drew up a list of 17 countries for not complying with the agreed standards of good fiscal governance. In addition, following contacts with the EU, 47 countries have committed themselves to correcting deficiencies in their respective tax systems in order to meet the required criteria.

This unprecedented exercise should raise the standard of good fiscal governance worldwide and help to prevent tax fraud that has become apparent in recent scandals such as the "Paradise Roles".

Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs said:"The adoption of the EU's first blacklist of tax havens marks a key victory for transparency and fairness. But the process does not stop here. We must intensify pressure on the countries on the list to change their ways of acting. Blacklist jurisdictions must deal with the consequences in the form of dissuasive sanctions, while those that have undertaken commitments must comply with them quickly and credibly. There is no room for naivety: promises must be turned into action. No one should have carte blanche.

The idea of an EU list was originally conceived by the Commission and then carried out by Member States. The development of the list has prompted a rapid engagement of many EU international partners. However, work must continue, as 47 more countries must meet EU criteria by the end of 2018, or in 2019 for developing countries without financial centres, to avoid being included in the list. The Commission also expects Member States to make further progress towards the adoption of firm and dissuasive countermeasures vis-à-vis listed jurisdictions, complementing existing EU-wide defence measures on financing.

The list of 17 countries is as follows:

Barbados
Baréin
South Korea
United Arab Emirates
Granada
Guam
Marshall Islands
Macao
Mongolia
Namibia
Palau
Panama
Saint Lucia
Samoa
American Samoa
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator

Tax Agency