BRUSSELS - The European Council adopted revised conclusions on the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.
Annex II of the conclusions, which covers jurisdictions with pending commitments, reflects the deadline extensions granted to 12 jurisdictions to enable them to pass the necessary reforms to deliver on their commitments. Most of the deadline extensions concern developing countries without a financial center which have already made meaningful progress in the delivery of their commitments.
Curaçao, together with 15 other jurisdictions managed to implement all the necessary reforms to comply with EU tax good governance principles ahead of the agreed deadline and were therefore removed from Annex II.
These other jurisdictions are Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cabo Verde, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Montenegro, Nauru, Niue, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Vietnam.
The list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, which is part of the EU's external strategy for taxation as defined by the Council, is intended to contribute to ongoing efforts to promote tax good governance worldwide.
It was first established in December 2017 and is based on a continuous and dynamic process of:
- establishing criteria in line with international tax standards;
- screening countries against these criteria;
- engaging with countries which do not comply;
- listing and de-listing countries as they commit or take action to comply;
- monitoring developments to ensure jurisdictions do not backtrack on previous reforms.
The list includes jurisdictions that have either not engaged in a constructive dialogue with the EU on tax governance or failed to deliver on their commitments to implement reforms to comply with the EU's criteria on time.
Jurisdictions that do not yet comply with all international tax standards but committed to reform are considered cooperative and included in a state of play document (Annex II). The Council's code of conduct group on business taxation monitors that jurisdictions enact the necessary reforms by the agreed deadlines. Once a jurisdiction meets all its commitments, it is removed from Annex II.