Council conclusions on the revised EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes

Summary:

Set of conclusions adopted during a meeting of the Council of the European Union on 4 October 2022, concerning a revision of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.

Further information:

The EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes was established in December 2017. It is part of the European Union's external strategy on taxation and aims to contribute to ongoing efforts to promote tax good governance worldwide.

In this instance, the Council decided to add Anguilla, The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands to the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. The reason for the inclusion of these jurisdictions - which all have a zero or nominal only rate of corporate income tax - in the list were concerns that they were attracting profits without real economic activity. In particular, they failed to adequately address a number of recommendations of the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices (FHTP) in connection to the enforcement of economic substance requirements, something to which they committed earlier this year.

The Council regretted that these jurisdictions were non-cooperative on tax matters and invited them to engage with the EU's Code of Conduct Group in order to resolve the identified issues.

In addition to the list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, the Council approved the usual state of play document (Annex II) which reflects the ongoing EU cooperation with its international partners and the commitments of these countriesto reform their legislation to adhere to agreed tax good governance standards.

The conclusions were adopted at a meeting of the Council of the European Union on 4 October 2022, and published in the Official Journal on 12 October 2022.

Official

General Secretariat of the Council: Policies: EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/eu-list-of-non-cooperative-jurisdictions/

Council of the European Union: Press Release, 04/10/2022: Taxation: Anguilla, The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands added to EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/10/04/taxation-anguilla-the-bahamas-and-turks-and-caicos-islands-added-to-eu-list-of-non-cooperative-jurisdictions-for-tax-purposes/

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News

EUObserver, 26/09/2022: EU adding Bahamas to tax-haven blacklist https://euobserver.com/rule-of-law/156140

Bloomberg, 27/09/2022: EU to Include Bahamas in Tax Haven Blacklist https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-27/eu-to-include-bahamas-in-tax-haven-blacklist?leadSource=uverify%20wall

Associated Press (AP News), 04/10/2022: EU adds Anguilla, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos to tax blacklist https://apnews.com/article/business-bahamas-european-union-commission-cd8de45f6036d170c860c05c3f99ab28

Reuters, 04/10/2022: EU adds three countries to its tax havens list https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-adds-three-countries-its-tax-havens-list-2022-10-04/

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Commentary and Analysis

Oxfam International: Press Release, 04/10/2022: Review of EU tax haven’s list remains a total whitewash https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/review-eu-tax-havens-list-remains-total-whitewash

Ernst&Young (EY): Tax Alerts, 04/10/2022: ECOFIN adopts revised list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes; Pillar Two Directive not on the agenda https://www.ey.com/en_gl/tax-alerts/ecofin-adopts-revised-list-of-non-cooperative-jurisdictions-for-

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC): Tax Insights N-11-2022, 11/10/2022: EU list of third country non–cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, updated October 2022 https://www.pwc.com.cy/en/publications/assets/dtu-n11-2022.pdf

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