On 23 January 2018, the European Union (EU) removed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from its black list,¹ along with seven other jurisdictions.²

In response to the Council of the European Union conclusions stating that the UAE does not apply the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Minimum Standards and did not commit to addressing these issues by 31 December 2018, the UAE has made a firm commitment to address the issues identified by the EU.

Consequently, the UAE and the seven other jurisdictions have joined the 47 jurisdictions³ that were not included in the list of uncooperative jurisdictions but were considered to have made commitments to solve outstanding issues within the agreed deadline.

The removal of the UAE and the seven other jurisdictions from the listing to join the 47 jurisdictions means that the commitments made by this group to solve outstanding issues will be strictly monitored and reviewed periodically. In particular, the UAE's prior commitment to comply with the transparency criterion, and now its commitment to address issues relating to the anti-BEPS minimum standards, will be closely monitored and regularly evaluated by the Council.

In the meantime, these jurisdictions, including the UAE, would not be subject to the proposed defensive measures outlined in the Council conclusions.

These jurisdictions, however, are expected to deliver on their commitments. Otherwise, there is a risk of again being included in the listing and in due course be subject to the contemplated defensive measures.

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ENDNOTES

¹ See EY Tax Alert, UAE included in EU list of uncooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, dated 13 December 2017.

² Barbados, Grenada, Macao, Mongolia, Panama, South Korea and Tunisia.

³ Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Aruba, Belize, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Curacao, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong SAR, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jersey, Jordan, Labuan Island, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Montenegro, Morocco, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Oman, Peru, Qatar, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Swaziland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

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CONTACTS

For additional information with respect to this Alert, please contact the following:

Ernst & Young Middle East, Abu Dhabi

• Tobias Lintvelt
  tobias.lintvelt@ae.ey.com

Ernst & Young Middle East, Dubai

• Venice Segarra
  venice.segarra@ae.ey.com

Ernst & Young Belastingadviseurs LLP, Rotterdam

• Marlies de Ruiter
  marlies.de.ruiter@nl.ey.com

Ernst & Young LLP, Middle East Desk, Houston

• Gareth Lewis
  gareth.lewis1@ey.com

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ATTACHMENT

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