EU reaffirms endorsement of Guernsey

The European Commission has reaffirmed its endorsement of Guernsey as a cooperative , following a meeting between officials from both organisations in Brussels.

This follows the inclusion of Guernsey as one of 30 jurisdictions on a tax blacklist of un-cooperative jurisdictions issued by the Commission.

The list was widely criticised, including by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Guernsey’s Chief Minister, Jonathan Le Tocq, has written to European Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici.

He said: “Guernsey welcomes the Commission’s confirmation at the meeting that it considers Guernsey to be a cooperative jurisdiction.

“This recognises not only Guernsey’s adherence to the OECD and Global Forum international standards on transparency and information exchange, but also that our corporate tax regime has been assessed as compliant with the EU’s Code of Conduct on Corporate Taxation, and hence not containing harmful measures.”

Dominic Wheatley, chief executive of Guernsey Finance, the promotional agency for the Guernsey’s finance industry internationally, added: "We welcome the EU's endorsement of Guernsey as a cooperative jurisdiction, which is fully consistent with the findings of its Code of Conduct Group on Corporate Taxation in 2012.

“This clarification should give full confidence to all those looking to do business in Guernsey and enjoy the high-quality of the financial business environment here."