This is a guest post from Fabrega Molino in Panama.
Panama has been removed from the European Union’s blacklist – its list of non-cooperative tax haven jurisdictions. The decision was made in Brussels by the EU’s finance ministers, who concluded that Panama has established regulations and filled requirements to address matters of fiscal transparency.
The EU screened 92 countries according to these indicators: fiscal transparency, good governance and real economic activity and the existence of a zero corporate tax rate.
Before removing Panama from the list, the European Union evaluated its progress in terms of transparency and tax cooperation, assessing such aspects as the adoption of the automatic exchange mechanism consistent with the objectives of the Common Reporting Standard, promoted by the Global Forum of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); and adherence to the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and the Inclusive Framework of the Project on the Erosion of Taxable Bases and the Transfer of Benefits (BEPS).