Economic substance in the BVI: a guide for directors and operators of BVI companies and limited partnerships

The Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, 2018 (the Act) was introduced in the BVI, effective 1 January 2019, to address the concerns of the EU Code of Conduct Group and the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices regarding economic substance. Related amendments to the Beneficial Ownership Secure Search System Act, 2017 (the BOSS Act) implement an economic substance reporting regime. The Act and the BOSS Act were both amended in 2021 – primarily to bring limited partnerships without legal personality within the regime and to expand the reporting requirements for financial periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022 to reflect the requirements of the EU and OECD.