At today's meeting of EU Economic and Finance Ministers (ECOFIN), a decision was made on the EU list of tax havens. Despite the biggest tax leak ever, the PandoraPapers, the list was shortened.
The Caribbean islands of
Anguilla and Dominica as well as Seychelles were removed from the list. Now
there are only nine countries on the EU list of tax havens: American Samoa,
Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, U.S. Virgin Islands, and
Vanuatu. The Greens/EFA Group successfully secured a plenary debate in the
European Parliament on the Pandora Papers on Wednesday (6 October, 3 pm). Also
on Wednesday (6 October), MEPs will vote on a report on the exchange of
information in tax matters.
MEP Sven Giegold,
financial and economic policy spokesperson of the Greens/EFA group commented:
"The reaction of
EU finance ministers to the PandoraPapers borders on denial of reality. While
tax havens continue to flourish, EU finance ministers are slashing their list
of tax havens. Instead of showing a firm reaction to the PandoraPapers, the EU
finance ministers' meeting is a topsy-turvy world. Important tax havens are
missing from this EU list anyway, and now the list is getting even shorter. The
PandoraPapers show that billionaires and powerful people use many tax havens
that are not on the EU list. Two-thirds of the shell companies in the Pandora
data are in the British Virgin Islands, which are missing from the EU tax haven
list. The EU list of tax havens is hardly any good in the fight against global
tax fraud.
After the
PandoraPapers, EU tax policy needs a wake-up call. We need hard criteria for
the global exchange of information between tax authorities and more
transparency. The list of tax havens must be fundamentally revised. We have
long been calling for stricter criteria, an independent decision-making
process, and transparency about the actual owners of letterbox companies and
real estate. The PandoraPapers show that information on beneficial owners is
central to uncovering extensive ownership. We also demand publicly accessible
registers of beneficial owners from third countries and improvements in the
criteria for asset verification and fair taxation. The EU can only make
credible progress here if it also applies these criteria to intra-European tax
havens.
Improved
international exchange and more transparency on ownership can curb tax
avoidance and money laundering. Tax avoidance exacerbates global injustice.
After the latest revelations, there must be a strong signal from Europe against
the global tax avoidance crisis."
https://sven-giegold.de/en/eu-tax-havens-list-slashed/
© Sven Giegold
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