The Corporate Tax Haven Index 2021 is a vote of confidence in Gibraltar’s tax system

Earlier this month the Tax Justice Network released its biennial Corporate Tax Haven Index.

Gibraltar has been ranked 30th in the global list, behind countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Jurisdictions are ranked by combining their Haven Score and Global Scale Weight.  A jurisdiction’s Haven Score is a measure of how much scope for corporate tax abuse the jurisdiction’s tax and financial systems allow and is assessed against 20 indicators.  A jurisdiction’s Global Scale Weight is a measure of how much financial activity from multinational corporations the jurisdiction hosts. 

The fact that Gibraltar ranks behind some of the bigger nations should come as no surprise, not least given Gibraltar’s commitment to tax transparency, tax reporting and robust legal system designed to inhibit corporate tax abuse.

The Tax Justice Network is not the first organisation to validate Gibraltar’s tax system: last year the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that Gibraltar was "largely compliant" with OECD benchmarks on tax transparency, the same rating as major economies around the globe and the second-highest in the OECD’s ranking.

Finally, the entry into force of a tax treaty between Spain and UK in respect of Gibraltar paves the way for Gibraltar to be delisted as a tax haven for Spanish tax purposes, a move which the Spanish Government has committed to formalise in due course subject to the successful implementation and operation of the treaty.