THE LIST OF TAX HAVENS IS STILL ENFORCED
International taxation
Through the Revenue Ruling No. 238 of 2018, the Tax Administration stated that Hong Kong is still considered as a tax haven
The recent tax reform (Law 1819 of 2016) modified the term of tax havens to non-cooperating jurisdictions. According to the reform, the National Government must issue a decree listing the jurisdictions and tax regimes that meet the conditions to be classified as a non-cooperating jurisdiction.
Four years ago, the National Government issued the Decree 1966 of 2014, determining which jurisdictions were considered as tax havens, but to date the list has not been updated according to Law 1819 of 2016.
However, through Revenue Ruling No. 238 of 2018, the Tax Administration expressly referred to Hong Kong as a non-cooperating jurisdiction. Therefore, this could signify that the list of Decree 1966 of 2014 is still enforced and is applicable.
It is important to bear in mind that the fact that a jurisdiction is classified as a non-cooperating jurisdiction may have effects in the regard to transfer pricing and controlled foreign corporations.