Caribbean Community Issues Statement on Tax Haven Blacklisting

Following the European Commission’s decision to put some Caribbean jurisdictions – members of the Caribbean Community – on the “black list” as non-willing to co-operate with EU countries in the area of tax law enforcement, CARICOM issued a statement strongly objecting this, and emphasizing efforts of CARICOM member states to comply with regulatory measures.

BVI is among the “blacklisted” countries, along with Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The criteria for considering the countries as non-cooperative included governance (transparency and exchange of information) and fair tax competition.

It is remarkable that in a formal statement issued by the OECD Global Forum this month, it has disassociated itself with the decision of the European Commission, although their own assessment was relevant for the purposes of determining country’s cooperation in tax matters. From the Global Forum statement, it became clear that the EU point of view does not correspond with that of the Global Forum, which, in its turn, is planning to extend support to its member countries put on the black list.