Several Asian jurisdictions are deemed to be uncooperative in terms of taxation compliance by the European organisation.

The EU’s European Council body has published a blacklist of jurisdictions it claims don’t co-operate in the hunt against tax evaders. Centres as significant as South Korea and the United Arab Emirates are named, as well as places such as Panama that last year was the focus for a massive client data leak.

“This initiative is already proving its value, as numerous countries have worked to meet the deadline for making commitments on the basis of our criteria,” Toomas Tõniste, minister for finance of Estonia, which currently holds the Council presidency, said. “But it is also important that we closely monitor the implementation of commitments made by our partners around the world,” he said. 

“This is not just a one-off process”, Mr Tõniste continued. “We will regularly review and update the list in the years to come. Our aim is to ensure that good tax governance becomes the new norm,” he 

The European Council said countries on the list “failed to take meaningful action to address deficiencies identified and did not engage in a meaningful dialogue on the basis of the EU’s criteria”.

In a statement yesterday, the European Council named 17 jurisdictions deemed non-cooperative in terms of tax. They are:

American Samoa; 

Bahrain; 

Barbados;

Grenada; 

Guam; 

Republic of Korea (aka South Korea); 

Macao SAR; 

Marshall Islands; 

Mongolia; 

Namibia; 

Palau; 

Panama; 

Saint Lucia; 

Samoa; 

Trinidad and Tobago; 

Tunisia; 

United Arab Emirates; 

The European Council said letters were sent in October to all jurisdictions on the list. Where necessary, a political commitment was requested within a specified timeframe to addressing all deficiencies identified.

Noting that some Caribbean jurisdictions on the list have been hit by hurricane damage, the process of dealing with shortcomings will be put on hold temporarily. “They will be asked to address the concerns identified as soon as the situation improves, with a view to resolving them by the end of 2018. By February 2018, they will be contacted to prepare the next steps,” the organisation said.