The European Union Council issued a press release on February 20, 2024, announcing its decision to remove the Bahamas, Belize, Seychelles, and the Turks and Caicos Islands from its list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes (tax havens list). In October 2023, it had already removed the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, and the Marshall Islands from the list.
The current EU list comprises 12 countries and territories: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Russia, Samoa, American Samoa, United States Virgin Islands, and Vanuatu.
The objective criteria used by the EU include good fiscal governance, encompassing fiscal transparency, fair taxation, and the implementation of international standards designed to prevent the erosion of the tax base and profit shifting.
Meanwhile, Spain maintains its own list of non-cooperative jurisdictions, published in Order HFP/115/2023 on February 9. It’s noteworthy that unlike the European list, the Spanish list does not include Russia.
The Spanish list (published in the BOE on February 10, 2023) includes 24 countries and territories: Anguilla, Bahrain, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominica, Fiji, Gibraltar, Guam, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Marianas Islands, Solomon Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Virgin Islands, United States Virgin Islands, Jersey, Palau, Samoa, American Samoa, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu.
There still isn’t a truly unified list, so attention must be paid to whether Spain updates its list in the coming days, potentially including Russia among other jurisdictions.
It’s worth noting that Spanish tax legislation regarding operations with non-cooperative jurisdictions includes the provision of additional information, along with other implications affecting, among others, corporate tax.
