The EU tax havens blacklist - implications for UAE
On 5 December 2017, the European Union Finance Ministers
published the EU's blacklist of tax havens listing 17
"non-cooperative" tax jurisdictions, including the UAE in
a step to counter worldwide tax avoidance. In all, the tax systems
of 92 countries were reviewed as part of this
exercise.
A total of 53 countries were initially on the blacklist which
was eventually reduced to 17 countries making the final list. The
EU list will be updated at least once a year and it is hoped that
communication, cooperation, commitment and compliance will lead to
countries being removed from the list over the next year.
According to the EU statement, the UAE is included in the
blacklist as it “does not apply the BEPS (base erosion
and profit sharing) minimum standards and did not commit to
addressing these issues by 31 December 2018”. BEPS
refers to an agreement signed by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development
