10 November 2016 European Council agrees on criteria for screening of third country jurisdictions The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) of the European Union (EU) agreed on the criteria and the process for the establishment of an EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions on November 8. The countries selected for screening will be assessed cumulatively under three criteria, namely: (i) tax transparency; (ii) fair taxation; and (iii) implementation of minimum anti-Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) measures. Screening is due to be completed by September 2017, so that the Council of the European Union can endorse the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions by the end of 2017. The non-cooperative jurisdictions may be confronted with defensive measures. Those defensive measures could be considered to be implemented in the tax as well as in the non-tax area. The work on exploring defensive measures at the EU level against listed jurisdictions should be completed in due time. A Tax Alert prepared by EY's Global Tax Desk Network, and attached below, provides additional details. Document ID: 2016-1926 |
