EU Blacklist: Updates to the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions

We keep you informed about the current status on cooperation in the tax area within series of our Articles. On 4 October 2022, the ECOFIN Council adopted a revised list as follows:

• Anguilla, the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands were moved from the greylist to the blacklist. Anguilla was already once listed in 2020, and the Bahamas once in 2018. The reason for the inclusion is that jurisdictions facilitate structures and arrangements aimed at attracting profits without real economic substance.
• Armenia and Eswatini were added to the so-called greylist.
• Bermuda and Tunisia were completely removed as they have fulfilled their commitments.

Currently, the EU’s blacklist includes the following 12 non-cooperative tax jurisdictions: American Samoa, Anguilla, the Bahamas, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.

Following this latest revision, 22 jurisdictions are greylisted: Armenia, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Dominica, Eswatini, Hong Kong, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Malaysia, Montserrat, North Macedonia, Qatar, Seychelles, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, Russian Federation and Vietnam.

The next revision of the non-cooperative jurisdictions list for tax purposes is scheduled for February 2023.

In this ECOFIN meeting, there was some expectation about discussion on the Pillar Two Directive, this item was finally not included in the meeting’s agenda. The governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands issued joint statement committing to implementing global minimum tax in 2023.