Spain changes its tax haven list: removes Gibraltar , adds Russia

A ministerial order published on Saturday in the Official State Gazette . The decision confirms, that Spain no longer considers Gibraltar a tax haven, alongside Barbados, Dominica, Samoa, Seychelles, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The decision is underpinned by technical criteria, not by diplomatic gestures. Gibraltar signed a bilateral agreement on tax cooperation with Spain in 2019, which came into force in March 2021, and its implementation has been deemed satisfactory.

The Spanish Ministry of Finance stresses that Gibraltar is part of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and that it no longer operates a low- or zero-tax regime under OECD standards. The territory also takes part in the Inclusive Framework on BEPS and has ratified Pillar Two, the OECD agreement that sets a 15% global minimum tax for multinationals.

Gibraltar’s removal from the listt is the technical recognition that it complies with international tax rules, something that could not be verified for 35 years. Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, welcomed the move with relief, calling it ‘a historic injustice of more than 30 years’ and saying it was something that ‘should have happened a long time ago’.

"This is a magnificent result and all of Gibraltar should celebrate it." - said Picardo.

Gibraltar has appeared on Spain's tax blacklist since the very first iteration of that list, when Royal Decree 1080/1991 of July 1991 classified Gibraltar as a tax haven. That designation persisted through successive reforms over 35 years, notwithstanding Gibraltar's record as a transparent and internationally cooperative jurisdiction. Gibraltar has been white-listed by the OECD since 2009 and has never appeared on the European Union's own list of non-cooperative jurisdictions.

When the tax treaty between Spain and the UK in respect of Gibraltar entered into force in March 2021, Spain committed explicitly to remove Gibraltar from its blacklist within two years.

Russia added to the Spanish blacklist

Russia joins, for the first time, Spain’s list of non-cooperative jurisdictions. The European Union had already placed it on its own blacklist in February 2023, due to Moscow’s lack of cooperation on tax matters with the bloc. Spain is now following the same approach, having identified a tax regime that is considered harmful under international standards.

Sanctions imposed over Russia's invasion of Ukraine have already severely restricted economic flows between Spain and Russia, so inclusion on the list simply adds another layer of scrutiny to trade relations that are already very constrained.

The move increases pressure on Russian capital in Spain and makes transactions with Russian entities more difficult, including those carried out by Spanish companies that still maintain limited commercial ties with Moscow.

Sources: Euronews, Gibraltar Cronicle