Marshall Islands and UAE removed from list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions
The European Union’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) has removed the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the EU's list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.
In addition, Albania, Costa Rica, Mauritius, Serbia and Switzerland were found to be compliant with all commitments on tax cooperation.
UAE is now compliant with all commitments on tax cooperation and has been delisted. The Marshall Islands will be moved from annex I of the conclusions to annex II, as the country's commitments regarding exchanges of information on request continue to be monitored by the Council's code of conduct group.
Albania, Costa Rica, Mauritius, Serbia and Switzerland have implemented all necessary reforms to comply with EU tax good governance principles, ECOFIN said, and have been removed from annex II of the conclusions.
An RMI statement said the ECOFIN's decision is the culmination of multiple months of constructive dialogue between the RMI and representatives from the EU Code of Conduct Group and European Commission.
Bermuda was removed from the EU’s list of non-cooperative jurisdictions in tax matters, also known as the tax haven blacklist, in May, along with Aruba and Barbados.
In June Bermuda passed the Economic Substance Amendment Act 2019, exempting entities that are tax resident in a qualifying jurisdiction from the substance requirements of the Economic Substance Act 2018.
The RMI will maintain its engagement with the EU and other international institutions to ensure that, within its specific context and scale as a small island nation, international standards of corporate governance and taxation continue to be met.
James Myazoe, RMI Deputy Registrar of Corporations, said RMI remains firmly committed to further cooperation and constructive dialogue with its EU partners.
