EU states have few concerns over Gibraltar tax regime

The number of EU countries that regard Gibraltar’s tax regime as harmful has dropped from nine to seven, according to updated information released by the European Commission yesterday, report the Gibraltar Chronicle.

The Commission database collects information on how the EU’s 28 members view other countries’ tax regimes.

When it was first published last June, just nine countries took a poor view of Gibraltar, meaning the Rock avoided inclusion in the EU’s blacklist of tax havens.

At the time, however, Spanish finance minister Cristóbal Montoro said Spain had “more than sufficient reason” to view the Rock as a tax haven and would seek Gibraltar’s inclusion on the blacklist.

But the latest data suggests that few European countries share Spain’s view. In fact, the perception of Gibraltar’s tax regime in the wider EU has improved.