In the wake of disclosures of offshore tax avoidance schemes by corporations and wealthy individuals, EU states launched a process to list tax havens to try to discourage setting up shell structures abroad which are in many cases legal but could hide illicit activities. EU states have their own national lists of non-cooperative jurisdictions on tax matters, though many of them are empty. Under public pressure following the Panama Papers and other leaks of financial documents, EU governments agreed to set up a common blacklist. Moscovici told lawmakers that some countries have changed their tax rules after EU pressure and “half (of the 92) have committed to do so in 2018”. It remains unclear how many countries will end up in the EU blacklist.

Source: Irish Examiner November 29, 2017 07:52 UTC