Gibraltar removed from Spain’s tax blacklist

Spain has officially removed Gibraltar from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.

The change has been published in the Spanish Government’s Official Gazette (BOE) as part of an update by the Ministry of Finance to its list of countries and territories regarded as non-cooperative for tax purposes.

Alongside Gibraltar, Barbados, Dominica, Seychelles and Trinidad and Tobago have also been removed from the list, while Samoa has been removed in relation to its offshore business regime.

The order adds Russia to the list in respect of its international holding companies tax regime.

The Spanish Government says the changes reflect updates to international standards on tax transparency and fair taxation, drawing on work carried out by the European Union and the OECD.

The order takes effect the day after its publication, with transitional arrangements applying to existing tax periods.

Gibraltar had been included on the Spanish list since 1991, under Royal Decree 1080/1991. Its removal ends a designation that had been in place for 35 years.

The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, told GBC:

"Gibraltar should never have been on the Spanish list of non-coperative jurisdictions.  After the Tax Treaty all the excuses Spain had used to keep us on the list completely fell away.  Our removal from the list was, thus, long overdue.  This is therefore a moment for celebration of a historic wrong of over 30 years being finally undone.  The result will mean a lot to many people with cross frontier interests, not least businesses, workers and those with second homes in Spain."