Economic Substance Reporting

In 2019 The British Virgin Islands (BVI) together with other major offshore jurisdictions introduced economic substance laws. The BVI Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act 2018 became effective on the 1 January 2019.  The legislation requires a relevant BVI entity (including locally incorporated companies, registered foreign entities and limited partnerships with legal personality in the BVI) that engages in one or more 'Relevant Activities' to report certain information on their activities to their registered agents via their service provider.

The reportable information will include information on the entity's tax residency status, turnover, number of employees, amount of expenditure, etc, but is dependent upon an entity's relevant activity and structure.

The reportable information is due to be filed by each BVI Company within the 6 months following the end of their financial period. Any failure in compliance with BVI economic substance requirements will result in a financial penalty or even the strike-off of the entity. It is essential that all companies meet these requirements and submission deadlines.