The Council of the EU, based on an intense process of analysis and dialogue steered by the Commission, has amended the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions by adding to it ten jurisdictions. Up until today, there were five territories blacklisted by the EU: American Samoa, Guam, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the US Virgin Islands.

The updated list contains the following countries:

-Aruba

-Barbados

-Belize

-Bermuda

-Fiji

-Marshall Islands

-Oman

-United Arab Emirates (UAE)

-Vanuatu

-Dominica

Over the course of last year, the Commission evaluated 92 countries in accordance to three criteria: tax transparency, good governance and real economic activity; as well as one indicator, the existence of a zero corporate tax rate. The evaluation process proven to deliver real changes: a lot of countries took actions to resolve the Commission's concerns and adhere to its guidance.

On the grounds of the Commission's evaluation results, the Council of the EU ‘blacklisted’ 15 countries. Among those, 5 have taken no relevant actions since the first ‘blacklist’ was adopted in 2017: American Samoa, Guam, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, and US Virgin Islands. 3 other jurisdictions were included in the 2017 list, then transferred to the ‘grey’ list, following commitments they had taken upon themselves, and as of now to be again blacklisted for not following through with the said commitments: Barbados, United Arab Emirates and Marshall Islands. Another 7 countries today were moved from the ‘grey’ list to the ‘black’ list for the same reason: Aruba, Belize, Bermuda, Fiji, Oman, Vanuatu and Dominica. The European Commission will continue to monitor 34 countries remaining in the ‘grey’ list, while 25 countries from the original screening process have now been cleared.

The ‘black’ list of offshore companies was created on the basis of the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, AMLD4, which was adopted in 2015. According to this document, the list includes countries whose efforts in the field of combating money laundering and terrorism, according to the EU, are insufficient. Read our blog to keep abreast of all interesting and actual legal news.