The United States (“the US”) features on an intermediate list of 92 countries with whom the EU will enter into discussions with a view to drawing up a blacklist of tax havens. Corroborative sources stated this yesterday (Wednesday).
One of these sources explained, “We have invited the affected jurisdictions to engage in a dialogue with member states to come off this list. The real list will only be known at the end of the year.”
The source concludes that the US makes up part of this list, notably, the state of Delaware, which is regularly criticised for its specific regulatory conditions, which attract a multitude of businesses.
Brazil, Singapore, Panama and even Canada also feature on this confidential list. The list has been drawn up on the basis of three criteria: a lack of transparency, the existence of preferential tax regimes and the absence of any form of corporation tax.
The last criterion is hotly contested, in particular by the British. It was temporarily withdrawn at the point when a group of experts evaluated whether it causes genuine problems in the distortion of tax calculations.
A second source stated that the EU Council, which represents member states, “sent a letter” on Tuesday to the 92 affected countries to “seek clarification around some aspects of their fiscal political policy.”
The Brussels Times
