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The European Union published on Tuesday the updated list of countries that it considers to be tax havens because their legislation may favor tax evasion or money laundering. In this list, which is reviewed every 6 months, there are 16 entities, the main Caribbean and Pacific islands, and for the first time, Costa Rica was included in the list.
The inclusion of Costa Rica in the list of tax havens by the European Union, is a severe blow to the image of the country, one of the most politically and economically stable nations in Latin America, but which was added this Tuesday to said black list. .
The Brussels decision is due to the fact that Costa Rica, despite a promise from the previous administration, did not reform its tax law that currently exempts Costa Ricans for the profits they obtain abroad from certain investments.
Being on this list, in addition to damaging its reputation, will deprive Costa Rica of accessing various European development funds. And foreign companies may be subject to stricter controls, which could discourage certain investments, Daniel Suchar Zomer, a financial analyst and university professor, told the RFI microphone.
“The news has felt like a bucket of cold water because there are some efforts that are being made at the fiscal and political level to attract more direct foreign investment and of course entering the blacklist would begin to alienate people who are Thinking about Costa Rica and those that are already here, they could start looking for some alternatives, although it is very premature, they are things that are already beginning to be seen in different groups and the media, he indicated.”
According to the financial analyst, now it is the turn of the Costa Rican government to maintain close communication with Brussels
“Now it’s time to make all those political and diplomatic approaches so that the European Union can start considering removing Costa Rica from the list, because the country is focused on improving its public finances through quite important fiscal policies that are giving results. and even the development of activities such as free trade zones and foreign direct investment are a fundamental part of the economic reactivation that Costa Rica has, therefore, going to the European Union to explain this, they are going to take the following steps so that the nation can leave better off a decision that this government did not take”.
The Executive of Costa Rica assures that it will do everything so that the country leaves the European black list of tax havens next October when the bloc updates said list.
