Two More Removed from the European Union’s Tax Blacklist

In its bid to crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion, the European Union has blacklisted and “grey-listed” many countries over the last couple of years. It had expressed concern about multiple jurisdictions. On 25th May 2018, two were removed from the blacklist: Saint Kitts and the Bahamas.
 

The Shrinking Blacklist is Good News For All

The original blacklist was released on 5th December 2017, but the Caribbean islands were subject to a temporary halt. By the end of March 2018, the Bahamas and Saint Kitts (now on the grey list), Nevis and the US Virgin Islands were added. Since the recent removal on 25th May 2018, the following were added to the blacklist: US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Palau, Namibia, Trinidad & Tobago and Palau.

The Bahamas and Saint Kitts Agree to Transparency

The removal of the two most recent jurisdictions from the black (formally known as Annex I) to the “grey list” (Annex II) are the Bahamas, long-considered a tax haven for the Americas with no income tax, capital gains or other taxes, and the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts. This means they are no longer “non-cooperative” but have committed to tax reform and will be subject to European Union scrutiny.
 
The present European Union Council President, also the Minister for Finance in Bulgaria, expressed pleasure at the shrinking Annex I list, pointing to the ongoing commitment from global powers to move towards tax reform and greater transparency. The remainder of 2018 will see ongoing monitoring to ensure compliance.
 

Who Else is on the Grey List?

Bahamas and Saint Kitts join the following countries on Annex II: United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Middle East, Tunisia in North Africa, South Korea and Macao in the Far East, Panama in Central America, and the Caribbean islands of Saint Lucia, Anguilla, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica, and the Bahamas, Barbados, the Pacific The Marshall Islands and the Atlantic British Virgin Islands.