The British Virgin Islands (BVI) has been removed from the European Union’s (EU) list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, also known as Annex I. The decision was announced following a meeting of the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council on 17 October 2023.
The EU Council noted in a statement that the BVI was removed from the list due to amendments made to its framework on the exchange of information on request. The BVI will soon be reassessed in accordance with the standards set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In the interim, the BVI has been included in Annex II, which lists jurisdictions committed to implementing reforms.
The removal from Annex I is a recognition of legislative changes made by the territory, including the BVI Business Companies Amendment Act 2022 and BVI Business Amendment Regulations 2022. These changes came into effect on 1 January 2023 and were implemented to meet requirements set out by the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes as part of its Peer Review Process.
Commenting on this development, Deputy Premier the Honourable Lorna Smith, said, “We welcome the announcement that the BVI has been removed from Annex I of the EU list, which reflects the current state of play in the BVI. As a world-class international financial centre, the BVI is committed to maintaining the highest international standards on transparency and regulation.”
Meanwhile, 2 Caribbean jurisdictions, Antigua and Barbuda and Belize, have been added to the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions this week.