On October 6,2020 the Council of the EU has released the updated list of non-cooperative jurisdiction for tax purposes.

The EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions was established in December 2017 and is being updated twice per year. In such list appear only non-EU jurisdictions that either have not engaged in a constructive dialogue with the EU on tax governance or have failed to deliver on their commitments to implement reforms to comply with a set of objective tax good governance criteria, concerning tax transparency, fair taxation and implementation of international standards against tax base erosion and profit shifting.  In December 2019, Member states agreed on a toolbox of defensive measures, which include non-deductibility of costs or withholding tax measures, to apply against countries on the list.   These are best practice measures which Member states will start to apply in 2021, although certain countries already apply certain measures.  In the Communication on Tax Good Governance launched on July 2020, the Commission states it will evaluate the measures applied and would consider legislative procedures if the toolbox approach is not seen as effective.

In this updated list, Cayman Islands and Oman have complied with the set requirements and therefore have been removed from this list, while Anguilla and Barbados were included. The list will be reviewed again in February 2021.

Twelve jurisdictions now remain on the blacklist: American Samoa, Anguilla, Barbados, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.