The ECOFIN Council of the EU has agreed to lift the non-cooperative tax jurisdiction blacklist status of three third countries, with immediate effect: Bermuda, Barbados and Aruba.
Of interest to European insurers with operations in Bermuda, the Council’s conclusions note that Bermuda has been taken off of Annex I and moved to Annex II of the 2017 Council conclusions on tax avoidance. Annex II includes jurisdictions that have undertaken sufficient commitments to reform their tax policies.
12 jurisdictions still remain on the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions: American Samoa, Belize, Dominica, Fiji, Guam, Marshall Islands, Oman, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.