EU removes Marshall Islands, UAE and Switzerland from tax blacklist

The European Council has removed the United Arab Emirates and the Marshall Islands from the EU’s list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes after the jurisdiction agreed to ban letterbox companies

The decision was made in recognition of the country’s reforms to implement the commitments they had made to improve by the end of 2018 their tax policy framework.

«The amended regulations have been recognized, through this removal, as fulfilling the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI)’s commitments with respect to the EU’s tax policies», Minister of Finance said. «This news has been very well-received and we welcome the fact that the EU sees the RMI as a reliable partner», he told local media.

The Council of the EU also found Albania, Costa Rica, Mauritius, Serbia and Switzerland to be compliant with all commitments on tax cooperation.

The United Arab Emirates are removed from a European Union blacklist of countries deemed to be tax havens, according to official document

Switzerland is removed from a European Union grey list

Switzerland has delivered on its commitments, the document said, acknowledging that a tax reform passed last year - and due to be in force from 2020 - was sufficient to meet EU demands.

Switzerland is currently on a greylist that includes countries that have committed to change their tax rules to make them compliant with EU standards.

The UAE, the largest financial center still on the list, is due to be removed after adopting new rules on offshore structures in September, the EU document said. The Gulf state charges no corporate taxes, making it a possible target for firms seeking to avoid paying tax in the countries where they actually operate.

The lists are regularly reviewed to take account of overhauls or to add new jurisdictions. Blacklisted countries face reputational damage and stricter controls on transactions with the EU.

Source: https://www.internationalinvestment.net/ and https://www.tax-news.com/