Since the publication of the ‘grey list’ by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in April 2009, the number of countries included on the list has decreased from 35 to 16. 19 countries have signed at least 12 different agreements of exchange of fiscal information with different countries. The signing of these agreements results in their removal from the ‘grey list’.
Some of the jurisdictions that are no longer part of the grey list are: Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Bermuda, Chile, Turks & Caicos, British Virgin Islands, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Barbuda, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Bahrain, Singapore and Samoa. Furthermore, four countries that remained on the ‘black list’ (Costa Rica, Uruguay, Malaysia and Philippines), have actively announced their intention to co-operate with the OECD and therefore, once this co-operation is formalised, no countries will be included in this list.
With regard to Spain, there are several jurisdictions that are listed as tax havens by the Spanish tax authorities, such as Gibraltar or British Virgin Islands, as they still have not signed an agreement of exchange of fiscal information with Spain. Therefore, although considered by the OECD as fiscally transparent as Spain, Spain will still implement strict anti-avoidance rules to all transactions which traders carry out with any such deemed tax havens.
Andorra has signed with Spain an agreement of exchange of fiscal information on 14 January 2010 which will take effect from 2011 and will remove Andorra from the Spanish black list.
