EU puts Turks and Caicos Islands back on tax‑haven blacklist; Vietnam also included

Brussels – Vietnam and the Turks and Caicos Islands are on the list of non-cooperative third countries for tax transparency, while Samoa, Fiji, and Trinidad and Tobago have been removed from the list of non-transparent jurisdictions. The EU Council is updating the list of tax havens, through a decision already taken that the Ministers of Economy and Finance meeting at Ecofin will formally approve tomorrow (17 February).

 With the update of the blacklist of tax havens, ten third countries remain under special surveillance by the European Union: Anguilla, Guam, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, Palau, Panama, Russia, American Samoa, Vanuatu, and Vietnam. 

The decision, now awaiting only formalization, carries political weight insofar as the Turks and Caicos Islands were removed from the EU blacklist two years ago. During this period, progress in the British overseas territory has stalled, and there have been setbacks in the exchange of information and in the fight against practices considered harmful to competition in tax payments.

 The EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes is part of the EU’s commitment to combating tax evasion and avoidance. The EU’s first blacklist of tax havens dates back to 2017, created to “identify” non‑EU countries that were neither interested in constructive dialogue on combating tax evasion and avoidance nor committed to keeping their promises to curb unfair tax regimes. Since then, the list has been updated several times, not without controversy. Since 2020, the review has taken place twice a year.