BRUSSELS - Aruba and Curaçao have today been placed on the EU gray list of tax havens by the European Union. Four countries were added to the blacklist: the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, the Marshall Islands and Russia.
The EU tax list is updated twice a year. Curaçao and Aruba have committed to adapting their tax laws and practices to meet international standards for tax transparency and fairness, while still offering tax benefits to businesses and individuals.
Both islands will have one year to meet the EU's requirements to be removed from the list again.
Those who do not meet the criteria are requested to amend their legislation. Those who refuse to do so may be blacklisted. The EU does not use the politically charged term 'tax haven' but speaks of 'uncooperative jurisdictions'.
Islands
The EU has indicated that Curaçao has not made any concrete commitments to bring its tax policy into line with EU and OECD standards, which are intended to prevent tax evasion and tax avoidance.
The decision to place Aruba on the gray list was made because the automatic exchange of tax information is not yet working properly. Aruba is working on that.
Being on the EU list of tax havens has financial consequences for Aruba and Curaçao and companies located here. For example, companies may experience restrictions when entering commercial transactions with EU countries. In addition, the image of Curaçao and Aruba may be affected by the fact that it is on the EU list of tax havens.
Criticism
The EU blacklist has often been the target of criticism from tax experts and civil society organizations, who claim that its scope is far too narrow and does not target member states, such as Luxembourg and the Netherlands, which exhibit characteristics of tax havens.
Chiara Putaturo, a tax policy adviser at Oxfam's EU office, denounced the list as a total whitewash for excluding jurisdictions such as Bermuda and Cayman Island, two overseas territories known for hosting shell companies used by companies to avoid paying higher taxes in their home country.
“With this joke list, the EU continues to allow the super-rich and for-profit corporations to funnel away their fortunes while ordinary people struggle with the cost-of-living crisis,” Putaturo said in a statement.