Barbados has been officially removed from the European Union’s (EU) controversial tax blacklist.
This morning, the EU Council adopted its latest list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes and Barbados was not on it.
Minister of International Business Ronald Toppin confirmed the news and said Government was “very pleased about this”.
There are, however, other Caribbean countries included, with Anguilla and Trinidad and Tobago still the on list, and Dominica a new addition.
The other blacklisted countries are American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Seychelles, United States Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.
Barbados was among countries singled out by the EU last October because it did not “have a rating of at least ‘Largely Compliant’ by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes for Exchange of Information on Request and has not resolved this issue yet”.
In December, Government application for a Supplementary Review from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was approved, paving the way for this country to be taken off the blacklist.
EU officials said the list, which is updated twice a year, will next be issued in October. (SC)
