An international study for the UK wealth management association, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, has discovered that tax blac...

An international study for the UK wealth management association, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, has discovered that tax blacklists drawn up by some countries often contain major errors. They are often written in an arbitrary, subjective and discriminatory way and can even contain countries that do not exist, said the Society. Many countries simply copied neighbouring countries' blacklists. When copying Mexico's list, Venezuela blacklisted itself, according to the STEP study. Mexico itself has made some mistakes. A country called Patau has been on its blacklist since 1996. Embarrassingly Patau does not exist. Palau, a tiny Pacific island, which until 1994 was a US-administered United Nations Trust territory, does though exist. Portugal, Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela also blacklist the UK territories of St Helena and Ascension Island. Until very recently neither jurisdiction had a bank. St Helena has a very high corporate tax rate for a tax-haven at 30 per cent.