BVI, Costa Rica, Marshall Islands & Russia added to EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes

The EU list [updated on 14 February 2023] of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes is part of the EU’s work to fight tax evasion and avoidance. It is composed of countries which have failed to fulfil their commitments to comply with tax good governance criteria within a specific timeframe, and countries which have refused to do so.

The list becomes official upon publication in the Official Journal.

• Taxation: British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Marshall Islands and Russia added to EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes (press release, 14 February 2023)

The list adopted by the Council on 14 February 2023 is composed of:

1. American Samoa
2. Anguilla
3. Bahamas
4. British Virgin Islands
5. Costa Rica
6. Fiji
7. Guam
8. Marshall Islands
9. Palau
10. Panama
11. Russia
12. Samoa
13. Trinidad and Tobago
14. Turks and Caicos Islands
15. US Virgin Islands
16. Vanuatu

What is the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions?

• Both within the EU and at the international level, the EU is working to promote and strengthen tax good governance mechanisms, fair taxation and global tax transparency in order to tackle tax fraud, evasion and avoidance.
• Given the global nature of unfair tax competition, this also means addressing external challenges to EU countries' tax bases.
• The aim of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions, which is published as an annex to conclusions adopted by the Ecofin Council (Annex I), is not to name and shame countries, but to encourage positive change in their tax legislation and practices through cooperation.
• Jurisdictions that do not yet comply with all international tax standards but have committed to implementing reforms are included in a state of play document (Annex II).
• Once a jurisdiction meets all its commitments, its name is removed from the annex.

What are the listing criteria?

To be considered cooperative for tax purposes, jurisdictions are screened on a number of criteria:

Tax transparency

• Jurisdictions should exchange tax data with all EU member states through automatic exchange of tax information (AEOI), either through the common reporting system (CRS) established by the OECD or through equivalent arrangements
• Jurisdictions should also be able to exchange tax information on request (EOIR)
• Jurisdictions should be party to the OECD Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, or have a network of exchange arrangements in place that covers all EU member states
• The aspect of beneficial ownership will be incorporated at a later stage

Fair taxation

• Jurisdictions should not have harmful preferential tax measures
• Jurisdictions should not facilitate offshore structures or arrangements seeking to attract profits without any real economic activity

Anti-BEPS measures

• Jurisdictions should commit to implementing the OECD anti-BEPS minimum standards, which concern harmful tax measures, treaty shopping, country-by-country reporting and dispute resolution
• Jurisdictions should receive positive peer-review assessments for the effective implementation of the anti-BEPS minimum standard on country-by-country reporting
• Criteria and process leading to the establishment of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes

SOURCE
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/eu-list-of-non-cooperative-jurisdictions/