15 May 2019Analysis

Bermuda could be removed from EU blacklist on May 17


It is possible Bermuda will be removed from the European Union's list of non-cooperative jurisdictions in tax matters - also known as the blacklist - at a meeting of EU finance ministers (ECOFIN) on May 17.

Bermuda minister of finance Curtis Dickinson, along with premier David Burt, had led a delegation in late March to meet with various European tax officials about removing Bermuda from the blacklist.

"Following our meetings and the assurances we received, we have every reason to believe that the EU Finance Ministers, on May 17, will remove Bermuda from Annex I of the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions in tax matters (the so-called 'black list')," said Dickinson.

On March 12, the European Union updated its so called blacklist on March 12, and Bermuda one again found itself on the list.

Bermuda - along with nine other jurisdictions - had agreed to modify their tax regimes to comply with rules set by the EU Code of Conduct Group in December 2017, which relate to tax transparency, fair taxation, and the commitment to anti-base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) measures. This list of jurisdictions that had made commitments has often been referred to as the ‘grey-list’.

Burt and Dickinson met with commissioner Pierre Moscovici, responsible for economic and financial as well as taxation and customs, on March 28. They also met Lyudmila Petkova, chair of the EU Code of Conduct Group on Business Taxation, on April 1.

In these meetings, the Bermuda officials were able to explain the reasons for which there was a technical omission in its Economic Substance Regulations submission - which has now been corrected to the satisfaction of European authorities.

"Following our meetings and the assurances we received, we have every reason to believe that the EU Finance Ministers, on May 17, will remove Bermuda from Annex I of the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions in tax matters (the so-called 'black list')," said Dickinson.

Other formerly grey-listed jurisdictions now back on the blacklist include Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Vanuatu.