SAN JOSE, Oct 17 (Reuters) – The Council of the European Union on Tuesday added the Indian Ocean island state of Seychelles and the Caribbean countries of Belize and Antigua and Barbuda to a list of 16 nations and territories deemed “non-cooperative” for tax purposes.
“All three jurisdictions were found to be lacking with regard to the exchange of tax information on request,” the Council said in a statement, adding that countries on the list had failed to engage in constructive dialogue or deliver on commitments regarding governance and transparency reforms.
The list also includes Russia, Panama, five Caribbean states and territories and six in the Pacific Ocean.
The Council invites EU institutions and member states to take the list into account when making decisions on foreign policy, development cooperation and economic relations.
The EU has also committed to increased monitoring or audits for transactions or taxpayers linked to these countries, and bans funds from several EU instruments getting channeled through them.
The Council said the three new additions lacked a “largely compliant” rating from the OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, though Belize had made commitments to improve within the next year.
Three countries and territories were removed from the list: the British Virgin Islands, which the Council said had amended a transparency framework, the Marshall Islands, which it said made significant enforcement progress, and Costa Rica.
Costa Rica’s government hailed the removal, a result of a foreign income reform approved last month. But it said it regretted the project included cancellation of debts owed by large local companies.
Oxfam’s EU tax expert Chiara Putaturo slammed the list as “toothless” for not screening the United States, the UK, or EU states such as Luxembourg and Malta.
“Countries deemed too big to be listed can no longer escape scrutiny,” she said.
The EU Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Alvaro Murillo in San Jose and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
