EU lifts Anguilla, Dominica, Seychelles from tax blacklist

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union removed Anguilla, Dominica and Seychelles from its tax haven blacklist Tuesday amid criticism that the trade bloc is letting countries off the hook, particularly in light of the recent Pandora Papers revelations.

Anguilla, Dominica and Seychelles were placed on the list because they did not meet tax transparency criteria. EU finance ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, endorsed a decision to move them to a “grey list” after the three agreed to a review of their tax systems.

The EU blacklist was set up in 2017 to tackle rampant tax evasion and is regularly updated. Nine “jurisdictions” remain listed as “non-cooperative:” American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.

Anguilla, Dominica and Seychelles are now listed as places that do not yet comply with all international tax standards but have committed to the principles of good tax governance. Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Malaysia, North Macedonia, Qatar and Uruguay were also added to this “grey list.” Australia, Eswantini and Maldives were removed from it after reforming their tax systems.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and its media partners recently published a massive leak of offshore data dubbed the “Pandora Papers.” The cache of almost 12 million files sheds light on the financial activities of many members of the global elite.

French EU lawmaker Aurore Lalucq, who authored a report on harmful tax practices, said she hopes the disclosures “will finally be a loud enough wake-up call for EU leaders” and the European Commission to urgently reform the bloc’s code of conduct for business taxation.

Some of the world’s most notorious tax havens are not even listed by the EU, Lalucq said in a statement....