EU withdraws Switzerland from its list of tax havens

Luxembourg (AFP)

The 28 EU member states withdrew Switzerland from their so-called "gray list" of tax havens on Thursday, saying it "complies with all commitments on tax cooperation".

Switzerland was part of the so-called "gray list" which groups all the bad students in tax matters having made commitments not yet realized, since the beginning of its establishment by the EU on December 5th, 2017.

"If Switzerland gets off the list, it's a success for me.The best list is the shortest," said the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, at a press conference in Luxembourg.

The NGO Oxfam, which fights against tax evasion, has however regretted this decision on the part of EU finance ministers.

"Switzerland has abolished its preferential tax regimes, but it still offers companies significant tax incentives and low interest rates, which will probably continue to attract companies looking to avoid paying their fair share of taxes," he said. she said in a statement.

Switzerland had adopted a tax reform in October 2018, but its implementation and entry into force had been delayed due to a referendum. The changes are now effective and will be effective January 1, 2020.

Excluding Switzerland, four countries have also left the gray list: Albania, Costa Rica, Mauritius and Serbia, according to an EU statement issued at a meeting of 28 European Finance Ministers in Luxembourg .

The United Arab Emirates and the Marshall Islands have left the black list of tax havens, which includes countries or territories considered "uncooperative", that is to say having not made a commitment of good conduct in tax matters.

The blacklist includes more "bad students" than the gray list since they have so far not promised anything to the EU. There are nine such blacklists: American Samoa, Belize, Fiji, Guam, Oman, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.

EU finance ministers had for the first time drawn up these two lists (black and gray) a little less than two years ago following several scandals, including the Panama Papers and LuxLeaks, to better fight against corruption. tax evasion of multinationals and large fortunes.

The sanctions against the "blacklisted" countries are rather limited: it is simply planned to freeze the European funds that they could have received.

© 2019 AFP