Panama Remains on EU Tax Haven Blacklist

The European Union will keep Panama on its list of non-cooperative jurisdictions in tax matters, a group that will also include Vietnam and the Turks and Caicos Islands after the update that the Economy and Finance Ministers of the Twenty-Seven are expected to approve tomorrow, Tuesday.

Conversely, Fiji, Samoa and Trinidad and Tobago will be removed from the list, according to European diplomatic sources on Monday.

With this revision, the list would consist of ten jurisdictions: American Samoa, Anguilla, Guam, Palau, Panama, Russia, the US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, Vietnam, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The list, in operation since 2017 and updated every six months, includes those territories that fail to meet EU standards on tax transparency, tax fairness or the application of international rules against base erosion and profit shifting, and that also do not take measures to correct these deficiencies.

Being listed in this register does not automatically entail financial penalties, beyond the prohibition on European funds being channeled through entities based in those jurisdictions and administrative measures such as more frequent audits. However, Member States may decide, at the national level, to impose additional penalties.

The EU regularly monitors around 100 jurisdictions to verify their level of tax cooperation. Those that do not meet the requirements but commit to reforming their legislation are included on the so-called “grey list,” while those that do not make this commitment or fail to implement it within the established timeframe are placed on the “black list.”