UAE removed from EU substance blacklist and latest changes to the EU List of “non-cooperative” taxation jurisdictions

Since the European Union (EU) first released their list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions (“EU List”) on 5 December 2017, the EU List has undergone a series of updates, with the latest one announced on 10 October 2019.

Below are the key changes:

• United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been removed from the Blacklist and from the EU List altogether 
• Marshall Islands has been moved from the Blacklist to the Greylist, and will continue to be monitored for further implementation of substance legislation
• Albania, Costa Rica, Serbia, Switzerland and Mauritius have been removed from the Greylist and from the EU List altogether 

As the EU List now stands, nine jurisdictions remain on the Blacklist and 32 are still on the Greylist. The following is the full EU List as of 10 October 2019:

Blacklist

• American Samoa
• Belize
• Fiji
• Guam
• Oman
• Samoa
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Vanuatu
• US Virgin Islands

Greylist

• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Armenia
• Australia
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Bermuda
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Botswana
• British Virgin Islands (BVI)
• Cabo Verde
• Curacao
• Cayman Islands
• Cook Islands
• Eswatini
• Jordan
• Maldives
• Marshall Islands
• Morocco
• Mongolia
• Montenegro
• Namibia
• North Macedonia
• Nauru
• Niue
• Palau
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Seychelles
• Thailand
• Turkey
• Vietnam

For a general understanding of what the EU List, the Blacklist and the Greylist mean, you can refer to our short video here. 

To find out how Vistra can assist you with economic substance requirements, reach out to us here or contact your Account Manager directly. 

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