EU admits inconsistencies over tax blacklist

Guernsey was nominated by a number of EU countries as being non-compliant

The European Commission has admitted there were "inconsistencies" in information used to put Guernsey on a tax blacklist.

The admission was made in a letter to Chief Minister Jonathan Le Tocq after Guernsey protested about being included in the list.

The commission said it would include Guernsey in talks on changes to how the blacklist is made.

Thirty non-EU jurisdictions are branded "non co-operative" in the blacklist.

Commission spokeswoman Vanessa Mick said: "It appears there were different criteria for different countries so we are trying to co-ordinate that.

"The idea is to invite the countries on the list of 30 to engage in talks with the objective of updating the list by the end of the year."

Each country on the list, including six British overseas territories, was nominated by 10 members of the European Union.

Mr Le Tocq said he believed the list had been compiled using outdated and arbitrary criteria.

Guernsey is the only crown dependency to be included on the list. The United Kingdom did not nominate any countries for inclusion.