The list of tax havens does not fulfill its potential, says Paul Tang

Paul Tang, chairman of the European Parliament's (EP) subcommittee on taxation, thinks that the European Union's (EU) list of tax havens does not fulfill its potential in the global fight against tax evasion. "Out of this list are countries where corporate taxes are not paid, which is a wide open door to tax evasion," the 53-year-old Dutchman said on the European Parliament's website.

The list can act as a tool

In January, MEPs adopted a resolution calling for a change to the list, which they said is currently "confusing and ineffective". They argue that the jurisdictions currently on this list cover less than 2% of all tax evasion worldwide. Tang already pointed out at the time that the list could work as a good tool, but the Member States had forgotten something when compiling it - real tax havens: "The truth is that the list is not improving, but getting worse. Guernsey, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands are just some of the well-known tax havens that EU Member States have removed from the list. "

Which countries are on the list

The list of non-cooperating jurisdictions currently includes American Samoa, Anguilla, Barbados, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu. During the last update of the list, Anguilla and Barbados were added to it last October, the mentioned Cayman Islands and Oman were reduced. As the resolution itself states, in 2019 the leading corporate tax havens were the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Jersey, Singapore, the Bahamas, Hong Kong and Ireland.