EU Blacklist Updates of Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions

After delisting the Cayman Islands and Oman, there are 12 jurisdictions still remaining on the EU’s non-cooperative list.

The EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, also known as EU blacklist, was introduced since December 2017 to prevent tax avoidance and stop harmful tax practices.

Following an in-depth review of the countries tax regimes and policies, the list was revised in October this year and added 2 jurisdictions, Barbados and Anguilla.

Blacklisted states face reputational damage and stricter controls on transactions with the EU, especially for financial centers. Since then, many of these jurisdictions have implemented new tax policies or reformed the existing tax regimes to comply with EU standards and have been removed from the list.

According to the EU criteria, a jurisdiction should possess at least a “Largely Compliant” rate. Anguilla and Barbados do not have a rating of at least “Largely Compliant” by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes for Exchange of Information on Request and has not resolved this issue yet. Which is the reason they were added to the blacklist, with Anguilla receiving a “Non-Compliant” rating and Barbados being downgraded to a “Partially-Compliant” rating.
The 12 jurisdictions still remaining on the EU blacklist are: American Samoa, Anguilla, Barbados, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.