EU takes Bermuda off its grey list

Bermuda’s Ministry of Finance has welcomed the conclusion of the Council of the European Union and its Code of Conduct Group that the island fulfilled its recommendations on taxation and that it has therefore been removed from Annex II, which is also known as the state of play or ‘grey list’.

Annex II reflects the ongoing EU cooperation with its international partners and the commitments of countries on that list to reform their legislation to adhere to agreed tax good governance standards. Its purpose is to recognise ongoing constructive work in the field of taxation, and to encourage the positive approach taken by cooperative jurisdictions to implement tax good governance principles.

The Council said the commitment of Bermuda with regard to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Forum on Harmful Tax Practices (OECD FHTP) recommendations “on the effective implementation of substance requirements was deemed fulfilled, resulting in the deletion of the reference to this jurisdiction in the state of play document”.

Bermuda’s premier and minister of finance, David Burt, said: “Bermuda prides itself on being a transparent jurisdiction and always compliant with EU standards. We committed to addressing the recommendation in Annex II and are pleased with this positive decision. As always, Bermuda remains committed to cooperating with the OECD FHTP and EU Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation) in implementing tax governance standards.”

Also off the grey list is Tunisia, while Costa Rica remains. New additions are Armenia and Eswatini. The others on the list are Turkey, Barbados, Botswana, Dominica, Seychelles, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Qatar, Uruguay, Jamaica, Jordan, North Macedonia, Russia, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Israel, Montserrat, Thailand and Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the Council has added Anguilla, the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands to its black list.

The blacklist (Annex I) is for jurisdictions that have failed to meet the EU’s tax transparency criteria of being ranked at least “largely compliant” by the OECD global forum regarding the exchange of information upon request.