The four blacklisted tax havens facing OECD sanctions have committed to meeting international standards on tax transparency.
Costa Rica, Malaysia, Philippines and Uruguay were singled out by the OECD at the beginning of April for failing to agree to meet its minimum requirements on the sharing of tax information.
But they yesterday followed dozens of other tax havens, who in the run up to the London G20 summit on April 2 had caved in to international pressure to become more transparent in their tax affairs.
Angel Gurria, secretary general of the OECD, said: “They have now officially informed the OECD that they commit to co-operate in the fight against tax abuse, that this year they will propose legislation to remove the impediments to the implementation of the standard and will incorporate the standard in their existing laws and treaties.”
The four countries join a list including Andorra, Panama, Vanuatu, Monaco, Singapore, Luxembourg and Switzerland that have committed to implementing the OECD tax standard but not yet done so.
Gurria added: “We continue to see quick progress in the adoption of the OECD standard. We need a level playing field and are looking forward to quick implementation of the standard.”
Countries and jurisdictions on a so-called white list, having adopted most of the international standard, included Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Netherlands, the UAE, China and the Russian Federation.
