European Finance Ministers meeting in Brussels on Friday dropped Aruba, Barbados and Bermuda from its tax-haven blacklist. The list, now down to 12 countries and territories, was established in December 2017 following a series of scandals, including Panama Papers and LuxLeaks, that prompted the EU to step up its action against tax fraud by multinationals and wealthy individuals.
It aims to prevent tax evasion and promote fiscal transparency, fiscal equity and international standards against tax-base erosion and profit transfers.
The Finance Ministers noted that Barbados had committed to address the EU’s concerns by replacing its “harmful” preferential regimes with a measure of like effect, while Aruba and Bermuda had now fulfilled their commitments, the finance ministers noted.
Barbados and Bermuda have been shifted to the grey list of countries that have made enough commitments, while Aruba has been completely removed from both black and grey lists.
The remaining 12 countries on the blacklist are: American Samoa, Belize, Dominica, Fiji, Guam, Marshall Islands, Oman, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, U.S. Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.
The Brussels Times
