News Americas, New York, NY, October 9, 2024: Three Caribbean territories, including one U.S. jurisdiction, remain on the European Union’s latest tax haven blacklist. The islands are Anguilla, Trinidad and Tobago, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).
“The Council regrets that these jurisdictions are not yet cooperative on tax matters and invites them to improve their legal framework to resolve the identified issues,” stated the EU Council, which comprises the 27 member states of the European Union.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Finance Minister, Colm Imbert, recently urged the Opposition to support legislation aimed at addressing the country’s inclusion on the EU’s blacklist. On September 13, Imbert introduced the Miscellaneous Provisions (Global Forum) Bill 2024 in the House of Representatives. He emphasized the importance of adopting recommendations from the EU Global Facility on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, which reviewed T&T’s tax transparency legislation in March.
“We risk not getting off the blacklist if we don’t accept the EU’s recommendations,” Imbert cautioned at the time.
Similarly, USVI Governor Albert Bryan has been advocating for the territory’s removal from the list since 2019, arguing that the blacklisting is unjust. Anguilla was added to the list in 2022 due to concerns that the island facilitates offshore structures without substantial economic activity.
On a positive note, Antigua and Barbuda was removed from the blacklist on October 8, following updates to its legal framework. The Global Forum has granted the country a supplementary review, with further evaluations pending.
The EU’s tax haven blacklist was established in 2017 after scandals like the Panama Papers heightened pressure on the EU to combat tax evasion. The list is updated biannually, with the next revision scheduled for February 2025.
What are the listing criteria?
To be considered cooperative for tax purposes, jurisdictions are screened on a number of criteria, established by the Council.
The criteria have been designed to evolve over time, so that they are aligned with international tax good governance standards, developed notably in forums of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) such as the Global Forum on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes, the forum on harmful tax practices and the inclusive framework on base erosion and profit shifting.
The listing criteria relate to tax transparency, fair taxation and measures against base erosion and profit shifting (‘anti-BEPS measures’).
