The latest update of the European ‘black’ list of uncooperative tax jurisdictions, which was adopted by the Council of the EU on Tuesday 6 October following a written procedure, has provoked strong reactions. As previously announced, the Cayman Islands and Oman have been removed from the list, while Barbados and Anguilla have been added (see EUROPE 12571/18).
In a statement, the Government of the Cayman Islands welcomed the EU decision, and gave an assurance that it had expanded the scope of its fund regime to ensure that the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has the statutory duty to supervise all of the investment funds based on its territory.
However, a number of parties involved in the matter felt that the decision once again shows that the EU’s criteria do not work. “By today removing the Cayman Islands from the list of EU tax havens, EU finance ministers are undermining the main EU tool to fight tax avoidance”, said Paul Tang (S&D, Netherlands), the Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Tax Matters.
Pedro Marques (S&D, Portugal) was also “shocked” by the decision, and said that the Subcommittee on Tax Matters, of which he is also a member, will make a review of the blacklist criteria “its highest priority”.
“If it wants its list to be credible, the EU must strengthen its criteria to include countries with zero corporate tax rates and countries where corporate investment far exceeds the level of real economic activity”, said Oxfam.
These changes bring the number of countries on the ‘black’ list to twelve: American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, Palau, Panama, the Seychelles, Barbados, and Anguilla.
A number of jurisdictions on the EU’s ‘grey’ list have been given extensions to adopt the necessary reforms that they committed to as a result of the Covid-19 crisis (see EUROPE 12503/16). Additionally, Mongolia as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina have fulfilled all of their commitments and so have been removed from the ‘grey’ list.
The document can be found at: https://bit.ly/33zx75E (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)