(3 Minutes Read)
The European Council removed Seychelles from the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. Seychelles was placed back on the EU blacklist in October 2023, two months after the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes maintained the island nation’s rating as “partially compliant.”
The Global Forum and EU Council positions are now more reflective of the current state of play of Seychelles’ compliance with the standards on tax transparency and recognise the progress and commitment of the country to meeting these standards.
Patrick Payet, the secretary of state for Finance, Trade and National Planning, stated that the removal from the blacklist will ease some of the pressures on the financial sector. This will be especially for the financial sector relationship with correspondence banking and this will benefit Seychelles but efforts will continue to ensure that the island nation is compliant in all areas as well. For the moment, there have been no changes to their standards, but we are continuing to urge them to make these changes, to ensure fairness, especially for small island nations.
Seychelles continues to urge the need to review the methodology for assessment of a jurisdiction’s compliance with the Standards, to ensure that reports and associated lists appropriately reflect the current state of a country’s commitment, and do not disproportionately damage jurisdictions for legacy matters.
Some reforms coming up in the next few months, and the country expects the support of the National Assembly, as these reforms are based on international norms, and the hope is that the international community can see that Seychelles remains determined to ensure that all legal instruments remain up to international standards, stated Patrick Payet, the secretary of state for Finance, Trade and National Planning.
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The main reason for Seychelles’ being blacklisted last year was because of difficulties encountered in responding to the exchange of information requests. The EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes was established in December 2017. It is part of the EU’s external strategy on taxation and aims to contribute to ongoing efforts to promote tax good governance worldwide.
