EU acknowledges Nauru’s positive steps on taxation

Nauru has been acknowledged by the European Union for its compliance with world standards on tax transparency, good governance and real economic activity.

The European Commission produced a list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions in 2017 as part of the European Union’s work to clamp down on tax evasion and avoidance.

In total, 213 countries were pre-assessed on 1600 indicators and from that list 92 countries were subject to further assessment.

In March, the Commission announced 15 countries had been blacklisted while another 34 countries will continue to be monitored on the grey list, while 25 countries from the original screening process had been cleared.

Countries are placed on a black list if they have made no commitment to improvements since being originally assessed in 2017 or did not engage with the process.

Nauru was found to have no commitments to deliver while EU member states decided it was not relevant for Nauru to implement minimum Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) standards due to the lack of multinationals with headquarters in the republic.

Therefore, Nauru has been removed from this grey list in what finance minister David Adeang has labelled “a great achievement for the country”.

"The BEPS minimum standards will be applied in Nauru once multinational corporations within its scope commence operating in Nauru".

BEPS refers to the tax planning strategies used by some multinational companies to exploit gaps and differences between tax rules internationally to artificially shift profits to low or no-tax jurisdictions.

Mr Adeang went on to say that the Waqa Government had worked tirelessly over the past six years to ensure Nauru is in good standing with the world.

“From our membership of the IMF and World Bank, to being elevated to a good status on numerous economic fronts, Nauru is in an excellent position for the future.”