Fair Taxation: Commission launches work to create first common EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions

The European Commission is forging ahead with work to draw up a first common EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions by presenting a pre-assessment (‘scoreboard of indicators’) of all third countries according to key indicators. It is now for EU Member States to choose which countries should be screened more fully over the next months so as to accurately pinpoint the countries which do not play by the rules when it comes to taxation. Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs said: “The EU takes its international tax good governance commitments seriously. It is reasonable for us to expect the same from our international partners. We want to have fair and open discussions with our partners on tax issues that concern us all in the global community. The EU list will be our tool to deal with third countries that refuse to play fair.” In January 2016, the Commission launched a three-step process for establishing the common EU list as part of its broader agenda to curb tax evasion and avoidance. A common EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions will carry much more weight than the current patchwork of national lists when dealing with non-EU countries that refuse to comply with international tax good governance standards. An EU list will also prevent aggressive tax planners from abusing mismatches between the different national systems. The aim is to publish the definitive list of non-cooperative jurisdictions by the end of 2017