Filenews 14 February 2023
The European Union added Russia to the blacklist of tax havens on Tuesday in a series of economic and diplomatic measures against Moscow since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
The EU, in a statement, said Russia's 2022 tax legislation "failed to allay concerns about the opaque treatment of tax affairs of international holding companies."
"In addition, the dialogue with Russia on issues related to taxation did not proceed after the Russian aggression against Ukraine," the European Council said."
Three additional regions, the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica and the Marshall Islands, were also added to the "EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes", bringing the total to 16.
In addition, four countries that the EU considers to have complied have been removed from the list: North Macedonia, Barbados, Jamaica and Uruguay.
"We call on all countries on the list to improve their legal framework and work towards compliance with international standards on taxation," said Sweden's Minister of Finance, Elisabeth Svantesson.
The listed countries are not entitled to request assistance from specific EU funds and EU Member States are required to apply specific controls to individuals and businesses that are fiscally registered there. In addition, EU Member States, when dealing diplomatically with these countries, should keep in mind their status on the list of tax havens.
