Liechtenstein, Hong Kong, Bermuda, and Guernsey joined the organisation in questioning their “unacceptable” appearance on the Commission’s list of the 30 most un-cooperative tax jurisdictions
Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, said the list featuring countries which appear on at least 10 EU countries individual blacklists was “very unfortunate”.
“We would like to confirm that the only agreeable assessment of countries as regards their cooperation is made by the Global Forum and that a number of countries identified in the EU exercise are either fully or largely compliant,” he said.
He went on to criticise the Commission for using compliance with the OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes as a factor in a country’s inclusion on an EU country’s blacklist.
The list also evaluates compliance with transparency and exchange of information standards, absence of harmful tax measures, and “other criterion”.
“It is not clear how [the Global Forum] is factored into either the national blacklists or the Commission’s list,” Saint-Amans added. “In addition, the inclusion of harmful tax practices or ‘other criterion’ in determining inclusion in a national blacklist makes it impossible to determine how this independently reflects on a jurisdiction’s compliance with the Global Forum process.”
Reject and refute
The Government of Liechtenstein said it “decisively rejects” its inclusion on the list due to its “well-advanced” efforts in the implementation of the automatic exchange of information, as well as its tax agreements with over 30 states.
“It is arbitrary and unacceptable for Liechtenstein to be indicated as an uncooperative country by the EU and its member states,” it said. “Within the context of the existing cooperation with the EU in the field of tax cooperation, the EU’s actions appear wholly inexplicable.
“Liechtenstein calls upon the EU Commission to take the steps necessary to ensure that Liechtenstein is no longer included in any such EU lists of uncooperative countries, and that any existing unwarranted tax discrimination is removed.”
According to The Financial Times, Bob Richards, finance minister of Bermuda, said the country “prides itself” in being cooperative, and blamed five of the 11 countries that blacklisted it for failing to share information or amend their tax legislation.
“[Bermuda] is a highly cooperative business centre and has gone the extra mile to be ahead of the curve in this respect,” he added.
