Global Daily Tax News, EU Council Conclusions Published On Tax Blacklist, (Mar 9, 2026)

The EU Council's latest decision on jurisdictions' placement on the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, and on the watchlist, has been published in the EU's Official Journal.

At its meeting on February 17, 2026, the EU Council agreed to remove Fiji, Samoa, and Trinidad and Tobago from the so-called tax blacklist, agreeing these territories had addressed long-standing deficiencies.

Additionally, finance ministers decided to add Vietnam and the Turks and Caicos Islands to the list due to their failure to comply with internationally agreed standards on tax transparency and "fair taxation".

The list now includes 10 jurisdictions – namely: American Samoa, Anguilla, Guam, Palau, Panama, Russia, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.

Anguilla and Barbuda and the Seychelles were removed from Annex II, after EU finance ministers agreed the territories have taken appropriate steps to ensure compliance with the international standard on the exchange of information on request. Further, Brunei Darussalam was granted additional time to deliver on its commitment to amend its harmful preferential tax regime.

Annex II now features nine jurisdictions: Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Eswatini, Greenland, Jordan, Montenegro, Morocco, and Turkey.

The newly published EU Council decision sets out the reasoning for each territories' placement on the respective lists.