United Arab Emirates attracts corporate billions to climb tax-haven ranking

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates, a magnet for the globe’s ultra-rich, has also emerged as one of the fastest-growing corporate tax havens, according to a study released on Tuesday that highlighted $200 billion-plus flowing into the country.

The index by the Tax Justice Network, which documents countries that attract companies to shrink their tax bills, added the United Arab Emirates to its top-10 ranking, which includes Switzerland and Bermuda.

Britain’s offshore territories the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the Cayman Islands and Bermuda were named as the most significant jurisdictions used by companies to minimise their tax, followed by the Netherlands.

The United Arab Emirates joined the top ranking at number 10 after multi-nationals rerouted over $218 billion of foreign direct investment via the Netherlands to the UAE to save taxes, the study said, bolstering financial activity by almost 180%.

A Dutch finance ministry spokeswoman said it had introduced a withholding tax to target flows of money to low-tax countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Bermuda, and to prevent the Netherlands being used as a conduit. It estimates, however, that the money flows are lower.