British Virgin Islands Issues Updated FATCA Guidance Notes
30 March 2015 – The International Tax Authority (ITA) of the Ministry of Finance, Government of the Virgin Islands, is informing the public that it has now published Version 2.0 of the Guidance Notes on the International Tax Compliance Requirements of the Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) between the British Virgin Islands and the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
The initial version of the Guidance Notes was issued in July 2014. The new version released has been updated to reflect developments since issue of the first version.
Attention is drawn to the revised deadline of June 30, 2015 (extended from May, 31, 2015) for reporting financial institutions to report to the ITA with respect to the 2014 reporting year for US FATCA.
The ITA also announces that the BVI Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS) will be available to the public from April 15, 2015. As of that date, the ITA will accept applications for enrolment from Reporting Financial Institutions. Further details are set out in Section 17.12 of the Guidance Notes. Additional guidance on BVIFARS will be issued in due course.