Tax good governance in the world as seen by EU countries

On 12 October 2015, the European Commission pu­blished an update of its list of third country jurisdic­tions that have been identified by EU member states for tax purposes. The update reflects changes in EU member states‘ assessments of third countries‘ tax good governance standards, corrections to national lists and Estonia‘s decision to withdraw all countries from its national list.

 

While the Commission´s ultimate goal, to develop a common EU approach to third countries in the promo­tion tax transparency, good governance and possibly effective taxation standards, is not yet within reach, the Commission is hoping that the list will encourage member states to update their lists more regularly. Annual updates of member states´ lists are planned. Unlike the list published by the Commission on 17 June 2015, the new list avoids giving the impression of an EU list and specific mention of the most-listed countries.

 

The previous list had been criticized for containing outdated information, and for not taking into account the transparency criteria monitored by the OECD Global Forum. The CFE has contributed to the up­date process in the Commission´s multi-stakeholder Platform for Tax Good Governance.

 

More information: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/gen_info/good_governance_matters/lists_of_countries/index_en.htm?wtdebug=true