[Photo] S. Korea removed from EU’s tax haven blacklist

The EU approved the removal of South Korea from its tax haven blacklist of non-cooperative jurisdictions on Mar. 12. It was the EU’s response to the South Korean government ending its long standing practice of providing corporate tax cuts to foreign companies for up to seven years, which the EU viewed as being unfair to businesses that did not directly invest in the country, and designated South Korea a non-cooperative jurisdiction in December 2017. South Korea’s National Assembly voted to abolish its system for incentivizing foreign investment in December 2018.

The photo shows South Korean Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki and EU Ambassador to Korea Michael Reiterer at the Central Government Complex in Seoul on Feb. 19. (provided by the Ministry of Economy and Finance)