The blacklist of tax havens of the European Union has been updated.

What is the goal of this list ?

Following multiples tax evasion scandals, including “LuxLeaks” , “Panama Papers” and “Paradise Papers”, the 28 finance ministers of member states have adopted on December 5, 2017 a blacklist of tax havens.

To not be considered as  a tax haven, states have to respect 3 conditions:

• Practise the automatic exchange of information, this implies an optimal cooperation between each countries’ tax administrations.
• Not apply preferential taxable measures, for example,  an effective level of taxation that is significantly lower than the general level of the countries of the European Union.
• Implement the recommendations of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) against tax optimization.

The 28 members of the EU have never been able to agree on possible sanctions against blacklisted countries. The sole purpose of the blacklist of tax havens in the European Union is therefore to exert “pressure” on the countries included in it, thus applying the “name and shame” strategy.

Which countries are on this list?

The list of tax havens was originally made up of 17 countries, but EU finance ministers withdrew eight countries, including Panama, at a meeting on 23 January. For each of these countries, the authorities provided commitments “by letters signed at a very high level”.

The blacklist now includes only nine countries:

• Bahrain,
• Guam,
• The Marshall Islands,
• Namibia,
• Palau,
• Samoa,
• American Samoa,
• Saint Lucia and
• Trinidad and Tobago.