A copy of the Amendment Act is available here.

The amendments made to Section 10 of the BOSS Act, which relate to the economic substance reporting requirements and are relevant to all companies and limited partnerships registered in the BVI (Entities), only apply to Entities’ economic substance financial periods starting on or after 1 January 2025. This is only clear from the text of the Amendment Act but is important to note.

The amendments confirm that Entities carrying on the economic substance of “holding business” (ie, as a “pure equity holding entity”) under the Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act (the ES Act) will only have to report details of their expenditures (in the BVI and generally) and additional details of their qualified employees and premises involved in the business if “the activities of the [Entity] are active”.

If an Entity was passive during the relevant financial period, the reporting in respect of its holding business will be limited to:

• the Entity’s taxpayer identification number (TIN), if any – and noting that the BVI does not issue TINs in respect of Entities;
• the gross income in relation to the holding business;
• the total annual gross income of the Entity;
• a statement that the activities carried on by the Entity were passive during the period; and
• a statement that the Entity complied with its statutory obligations under the BVI Business Companies Act or the Limited Partnership Act, as applicable.

The other changes are either clarificatory or minor or technical in nature to ensure compliance with international standards and to align with other BVI legislation.

For advice on how the ES Act or the BOSS Act applies to your BVI entity, please contact your usual Harneys representative or the author.