BVI FATCA - Update US And UK

United States Intergovernmental Agreement

The British Virgin Islands ("BVI") Government on 6 March 2014 initialled a "Model 1 intergovernmental agreement" (the "BVI-US IGA") with the government of the United States of America with respect to the "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act" provisions of the Internal Revenue Code ("FATCA"), designed to address tax evasion by US citizens and other US persons.  While the BVI-US IGA has not yet been formally signed and therefore the official text has not been made public, the BVI-US IGA is expected to streamline the process for BVI foreign financial institutions to comply with FATCA by reporting the required information to the BVI International Tax Authority who would then exchange information with the United States.