On 14 February 2023, the European Council announced that the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, the Marshall Islands, and Russia will be added to the EU List of Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions for Tax Purposes (EU List), following a meeting of the finance ministers of the 27 EU Member States. With these additions, the EU List now consists of 16 jurisdictions.

The BVI is listed because they were found not to be sufficiently in compliance with the OECD standard on exchange of information on request (criterion 1.2). This is the first time this jurisdiction is listed.

The BVI Government issued a press release, stating that: “BVI is committed to complying with evolving international standards on transparency and the fight against financial crime”.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your key contact at Harneys.

We have issued an update which can be found here.

The BVI Government’s official statement can be found here.

The European Council’s press release can be found here.