TAX HAVENS: What You Need To Know
It can be simple to open a bank account in the tax haven, but it can be very expensive to get it out. If you try to transfer funds from a tax haven to an EU country, the local tax authority may consider it undeclared income or fraud. This allows them to freely apply fines of upto 52% of that amount.
For this reason, managing your money and/or forming a company in a tax haven can only make sense if you plan to live in that country and keep your savings there. Otherwise, the legal and financial risks tend to outweight the benefits.
Spain’s Official List of Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions (Tax Havens)
Spain maintains a list of jurisdictions classified as “non-cooperative” (paraísos fiscales) under Royal Decree 1080/1991 and other laws. Some countries, described below, have signed tax treaties with Spain and may no longer be considered blacklisted for certain purposes.
The Spanish list includes:
- Andorra
- Dutch Antilles
- Aruba
- Bahrain
- Brunei
- Cyprus (Removed: tax treaty in force since 28 May 2014)
- United Arab Emirates (Removed: tax treaty in force since 2 April 2007)
- Gibraltar
- Hong Kong
- American Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbados
- The Bahamas
- Barbados
- Bermudas
- Cayman Islands
- Cook Islands
- Dominican Republic
- Grenada
- Fiji
- Islands of Guernsey and Jersey (Channel Islands)
- Jamaica
- Malta (Removed: tax treaty in force since 12 September 2006)
- Falkland Islands
- Isle of Man
- Mariana Islands
- Mauritius
- Montserrat
- Nauru
- Solomon Islands
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Saint Lucia
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Vanuatu
- British Virgin Islands
- United States Virgin Islands
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg (limited - only for specific passive income under certain companies, namely to avoid double taxation, dated 3 June 1986
- Macao
- Monaco
- Oman
- Panama
- San Marino
- Seychelles
- Singapore (tax treaty in force since July 2012, meaning it can be excluded this list in practice for taxpayers who benefit from the treaty.
This list of non-cooperative jurisdictions (tax havens) is based on Royal Decree 1080/1991 of July 5, as published in Spain’s official state bulletin (BOE). Content verified and updated as of May 2025, including removals due to double taxation or transparency agreements.
Agencia Estatal BOE ExplanationCurrent EU List of Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions (as of Feb. 2025)
The European Union maintains its own blacklist of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, which is narrower and based on international standards for tax transparency and fair taxation. This list is updated twice a year.
The EU blacklist currently includes:
- American Samoa
- Anguilla
- Fiji
- Guam
- Palau
- Panama
- Russia
- Samoa
- Trinidad and Tobago
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Vanuatu
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