As part of its initiatives to combat tax avoidance, the Netherlands has drawn up a list of low-tax jurisdictions¹ (the “Dutch List") which will henceforth be subject to more stringent measures and scrutiny by the Dutch authorities.

The Dutch list, which comprises low-tax jurisdictions¹ that have been flagged by the Dutch Authorities in addition to the ones that have been blacklisted by the European Union, was published on the 28 December 2018 and includes the following countries:

Countries

• American Samoa²
• US Virgin Islands²
• Guam²
• Samoa²
• Trinidad and Tobago²
• Anguilla
• Bahamas
• Bahrain
• Belize
• Bermuda
• British Virgin Islands
• Guernsey
• Isle of Man
• Jersey
• The Cayman Islands
• Kuwait
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• Vanuatu
• United Arab Emirates

¹ These jurisdictions either have no corporation tax or have a corporation tax rate that is lower than 9%

² Countries blacklisted by the European Union

The Dutch List will be updated each year, while the EU list will be updated in the first quarter of 2019. If, in the future, jurisdictions are added to the EU list that are not on the Dutch List, the measures will also apply to these jurisdictions.

Countries appearing in the Dutch List will be subject to more stringent measures, as summarized below:

• Additional measures to be imposed on controlled foreign companies (CFCs) as from on 1 January 2019
• The imposition of a conditional withholding tax of 20.5% on interest and royalties received from the Netherlands as from 1 January 2021
• The Dutch Tax and Customs Administration will no longer issue rulings on transactions with companies headquartered in these countries

For recall, Mauritius is rated as a Compliant jurisdiction by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the fact that the island nation has not been blacklisted by the Netherlands as well as the European Union, reinforces its position as a jurisdiction of substance and transparency.

For more information about the Dutch Blacklist, please Click Here