The EU has announced the removal of eight jurisdictions from its tax blacklist.
On January 23rd, the European Council agreed to delist Barbados, Grenada, South Korea, Macao, Mongolia, Panama, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. These jurisdictions are being moved to a separate category of jurisdictions, and will be subject to close monitoring.
The Council said that delisting was justified in the light of an expert assessment of the commitments made by these jurisdictions to address deficiencies identified by the EU. The Council added that the commitments were in each case backed by letters signed at a high political level.
The decision leaves nine jurisdictions on the list out of the 17 announced initially on December 5, 2017. The remaining jurisdictions are: American Samoa, Bahrain, Guam, the Marshall Islands, Namibia, Palau, Saint Lucia, Samoa, and Trinidad and Tobago. Jurisdictions that are on the list are encouraged to make the changes requested of them.
The list will be revised at least once a year, although the working group responsible for preparing it can recommend an update at any time.
Vladislav Goranov, representing Bulgaria, which currently holds the EU Council presidency, said: “Our listing process is already proving its worth. Jurisdictions around the world have worked hard to make commitments to reform their tax policies. Our aim is to promote good tax governance globally.”
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