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The European finance ministers have published a new black list of tax havens. However, according to aid organization Oxfam Novib, the list is a “pointless exercise”.
New countries on the EU list are Antigua, Belize and the Seychelles. The British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica and the Marshall Islands have been removed from the list. “How much longer will the EU continue with this pointless exercise?” responds Bram Joanknecht, tax expert at Oxfam Novib. “The list is toothless. It leaves out countries like the British Virgin Islands with zero percent taxes. Countries like the US, UK and European tax havens like Luxembourg and Malta are left out.”
According to Joanknecht, the new list is “a slap in the face to citizens who are already struggling to make ends meet, while the super-rich and profit-driven multinationals are given free rein to avoid their tax obligations.”
Live up to promise
Oxfam Novib wants the EU to reform the list and fulfill an earlier promise to really tackle tax havens. Countries that are seen as too large to be included should now also be included, the aid organization believes.
“Countries that allow companies to pay essentially zero percent tax, or allow owners to be untraceable, should be blacklisted by the EU,” Joanknecht said. He believes that the EU can no longer afford to spare tax havens within its own borders.