SUZOHAPP wishes everyone a Happy New Year


suzohapp.com By Tony Lai


Offshore blacklist off target


L


ooking at gambling enclave Macau, the eastern Caribbean island of Barbados, and Samoa, a group of holiday islands in the South Pacific Ocean, one might be hard pushed to come up with the common


denominator. It might take some guessing but the recent decision by the European Union (EU) makes it easier to draw parallels between them: they all appear on a list of 17 countries and regions whose tax standards are out of sync with the bloc. The inclusion of Macau on the tax haven blacklist – on a par with Panama – has caught many by surprise in the city, and is an indictment strongly refuted by the local Administration. Although critics have cried foul, given the recent efforts of the territory to fight cross-border tax evasion they urge authorities to resolve the issue as soon as possible, which will not only affect the city’s image but also impose hurdles for companies venturing abroad. In the wake of several high-profile revelations documenting how officials, entrepreneurs and multinationals employ offshore accounts to avoid tax and hide assets, the EU has stepped up efforts in recent years to tackle tax avoidance, culminating in the blacklist announced on December 5 after


18 JANUARY 2018


The decision by the EU to brand Macau a tax haven has baffled many here, possibly spelling trouble for the private sector in the long run


months of screening 92 jurisdictions. The 28-nation bloc determined that 17 countries and regions, including Macau, have failed to improve the transparency of their tax regimes and engaged in harmful tax practices. The EU reasoned in a report that Macau has not signed or ratified the Multilateral Convention on


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