The issue of offshore jurisdictions and the role they play in the global economy has come under extreme scrutiny, especially from onshore governments seeking to increase tax revenues.

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is the standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information produced by the OECD, which provides for exchange of client due diligence (CDD) information between various jurisdictions.

The Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, as amended (the "ESA"), requires BVI legal entities which engage in relevant activities to maintain economic substance in the BVI.

The British Virgin Islands Government recently announced the extension of the 2017 deadlines for notification and reporting obligations under the Common Reporting Standard, or CRS.

Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes enable individuals who have left the UK to transfer their UK pension benefits into a more flexible and often lower tax regime.

The obligation to comply with the relevant substance requirements begins at the start of the initial financial period.

The British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority ("ITA") released guidance notes for the Common Reporting Standard ("CRS").

Quite unexpectedly, the Panama Papers was raised at a recent society event I attended in Zimbabwe, and while the popular press has permeated even to the most unexpected areas – often without an...

On 18 February 2020, EU Finance Ministers updated the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, upgrading the British Virgin Islands to whitelist status

2016 was the year of Donald Trump, Brexit and extensive overtime for celebrity obituary writers.

The British Virgin Islands Government recently announced the extension of the 2017 deadlines for notification and reporting obligations under the Common Reporting Standard, or CRS.

Under the Probates (Resealing) Act 1967 (the ‘Act'), only grants of probate issued by a court of the United Kingdom, a Commonwealth jurisdiction or a dependant territory may be resealed in the BVI.

The BVI International Tax Authority has recently announced deadline extensions for filing requirements.

The Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, 2018 (the "Act") was passed on 1 January 2019, introducing economic substance requirements...

Reporting FIs will be required to enrol with BVIFARS the first time they wish to access the system and this enrolment application will need to be approved by the ITA before access is granted.

The British Virgin Islands will implement its new beneficial ownership reporting regime on July 1, 2017, by virtue of the recently passed BOSSs Act, 2017, (BOSSs), which comes into force on June 30, 2017.

In this article, which was first published on Lexis(r)PSL Corporate Crime, Partner Ross Munro discusses the relevance of the EU tax haven blacklist.

The clock is ticking towards April 2017 when the new rules affecting the status of non-domiciled but UK resident individuals as set out in Finance Bill 2017 will take full force and effect.

On 8 April 2025, the British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority ("ITA") updated the user guide to the British Virgin Islands ("BVI") Financial Account Reporting System ("FARS")...

The British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (ITA) published the Rules on Economic Substance in the British Virgin Islands (Rules) on 9 October 2019.