Some US States

Some US States

September 10, 2015 | By Keith Martin in Washington, DC

Some US states are drawing up lists of tax havens.

A new Oregon statute that the governor signed in late July added more countries to a list of tax havens that the state has maintained since 2013.

Corporations filing consolidated returns in Oregon must include income from affiliated entities incorporated in countries on the list. Oregon added Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and five islands that were part of the Netherlands Antilles to a list that already included such countries as Bahrain, Cyprus, Liberia, Lichtenstein and Malta. Holland and Switzerland avoided being added to the list after a group of Dutch diplomats and finance ministry officials traveled to Oregon in April. The state has decided for now not to put any large countries with significant economies on the list.

The city council in Washington, DC voted on August 11 to require combined reporting of income by DC companies with affiliated entities in tax havens. Its tax havens list has 39 jurisdictions, including the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Luxembourg, the US Virgin Islands, the Channel islands and Mauritius. The US Congress has 30 days to overrule the council if it chooses.

Montana also has a tax havens list.