To get out of the black list of the European Union (EU), Panama adopted a series of strong measures to comply with the demands of the European Union and reach a written commitment with a high political level to cooperate in the fight against tax fraud.
“Thanks to the listing process, dozens of countries abolished their harmful tax regimes and complied with international standards of transparency and fair taxation,” European Finance Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said in a statement.
However, it should be noted that the European Union (EU) adds ten territories to its black list of tax havens, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), an annual review that also resulted in the departure of Panama, Uruguay and Peru from its list. Gray.
Since December 2017, the European Union adopted its first list of tax havens in response to scandals like the Panama Papers, which revealed how the law firm Mossack Fonseca created opaque companies to allegedly evade taxes on a global scale.
Regarding the initial 17 jurisdictions, which included Panama, the list evolved over the months to a total of five Samoa, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guam, to the that another ten were added.
After the Panama Papers scandal, Panama accelerated various reforms to protect its financial system and signed several agreements with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), including the automatic exchange of information.
According to the Panamanian Foreign Minister, Isabel de Saint Malo, the country is absolutely committed to the transparency indexes and the highest standards in fiscal matters.
