On October 23, 2025, the BVI International Tax Authority (ITA) issued a notice related to Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and the Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). BVI CRS 2.0 is effective starting January 1, 2026 with reporting on CRS 2.0 due May 2027. Additionally, BVI CARF exchange commitment commences in 2028. Below is the content of the BVI ITA notice. "The Virgin Islands intends to introduce CRS 2.0 with effect from 1st January, 2026. These means that by the end

The previously announced British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (BVI ITA) Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS) payment system is finally live. The US$185.00 portal fee must be paid by June 1 annually through the BVIFARS portal. Who Does the Fee Apply to? The fee will be charged for each entity which is required under BVI law to register in BVIFARS. Entities register in BVIFARS to comply with BVI reporting under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), Foreign

The British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (BVI ITA) posted the video from its live June 5, 2024 program for custodial institutions, depository institutions, and specified insurance companies subject to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). The 45-minute video covers CRS filing requirements, CRS financial institution deactivation, and the BVIFARS payment portal. To watch on the BVI ITA website: https://bviita.vg/library/ita-webinar-5-june-24/ Also included on this

BVI Posted CRS Video The British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (BVI ITA) posted the video from its live February 2024 program for investment entities subject to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). The almost 2-hour video covers CRS due diligence procedures and reporting trust accounts, CRS filing requirements, CRS financial institution deactivation, and the BVIFARS payment portal. To watch on the BVI ITA website: https://bviita.vg/library/webinar/ Bahamas Announ

The British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (BVI ITA) previously announced its BVI Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS) payment system would go live in January 2024. However, it has not been activated to date. On March 5, 2024, the BVI ITA provided an update: “[D]ue to unforeseen circumstances, the deployment of the payment module has been delayed. In the meantime, we kindly ask that you continue to fulfill your filing obligations as usual and disregard any

The British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (BVI ITA) announced its BVI Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS) payment system will go live in January 2024. The BVI ITA had previously stated it would be ready to go live with the fee in Q1 2023. Fee Details The US$185.00 portal registration fee must be paid through the BVIFARS portal by June 1, 2024. It is an annual fee which must be paid by June 1 of each subsequent year. Who Does the Fee Apply to? The fee wil

The British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (BVI ITA) provided an update regarding the US$185.00 portal registration fee. The BVI ITA stated that once its BVI Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS) payment system goes live, the BVI ITA will provide details about the process and options available for making payments. The fee will be charged for each entity which is required under BVI law to register in BVIFARS. Entities register in BVIFARS to comply with BVI r

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) International Tax Authority (ITA) announced its FATCA and Common Reporting Standard (CRS) reporting deadlines: FATCA Annual Enrolment deadline: 1st April 2023. FATCA Annual Reporting Submission deadline: 31st May 2023. CRS Annual Enrolment/Notification deadline: 30 April 2023. CRS Annual Reporting Submission deadline: 31st May 2023. The CRS reportable jurisdictions for Y2022 have not yet been updated. The BVI Financial Account Reporting System

On October 27, 2022, the British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (BVI ITA) announced the US$185.00 portal registration fee will start in the first quarter of 2023. The updated BVI Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS) is scheduled to go live before the end of Q1 2023. The fee will be charged for each entity which is required under BVI law to register in the BVI Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS). Entities register in BVIFARS to comply with BVI repo

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) International Tax Authority (ITA) recently reminded Financial Institutions (FIs) that the BVI Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Act (MLA) requires that a BVI FI’s registered Primary User must have a permanent position within the FI. The MLA permits the FI to use an agent to undertake the FI’s CRS duties and obligations but this agent can only be a Secondary User not the Primary User in the BVI Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS) p

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) International Tax Authority (ITA) recently announced legislative amendments which require a Financial Institution (FI) to establish and maintain adequate systems and controls for ensuring compliance with the requirements and obligations under The Mutual Legal Assistance Act. As part of these requirements, all legal entities must have a compliance procedures manual established and implemented by December 31, 2023. BVI Legislation The BVI update

On February 11, 2022, the British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (BVI ITA) announced it will be establishing a registration fee of US$185.00 effective September 1, 2022. On May 18, 2022, the BVI ITA issued a Bulletin to inform entities the portal fee will be implemented later this year and not September 1, 2022, as previously announced. The fee will be charged for each entity which is required under BVI law to register in the BVI Financial Account Reporting System

On February 21, 2022, the British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (BVI ITA) announced the BVI Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS) will be offline starting Monday, February 21, 2022 until further notice. The BVI ITA expects to provide an update regarding the portal during the week of February 21. The BVI ITA also provided a reminder regarding the mandatory inclusion of tax identification numbers (TINs) in FATCA reporting. FATCA TIN Reporting As part of a Fi

On February 11, 2022, the British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (BVI ITA) announced it will be establishing a registration fee of US$185.00 effective September 1, 2022. The fee will be charged for each entity which is required under BVI law to register in the BVI Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS). Entities register in BVIFARS to comply with BVI reporting under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and Country-b

As part of a Financial Institution’s (FI’s) FATCA obligations, an FI must conduct due diligence that includes collecting a non-U.S. Person account holder’s tax identification number (TIN). But what if the account holder’s tax residence jurisdiction does not issue TINs? Must you declare the withholding certificate invalid? Not necessarily. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides exceptions to obtaining foreign TINs for certain categories of account holders. An FI is n

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) International Tax Authority (ITA) announced its Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and FATCA reporting deadline is now extended from May 31, 2021 to June 30, 2021 . Previously, the ITA had announced scheduled interruptions during January and February 2021 to its BVI Financial Account Reporting system (BVIFARs) to make system changes to accommodate the CRS version 2.0 schema. The ITA took BVIFARs down again from March 10, 2021 through March 16, 20

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) International Tax Authority (ITA) announced scheduled interruptions to its BVI Financial Account Reporting system (BVIFARs). The reason for the disruptions is system changes to accommodate the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) version 2.0 schema. Offline: December 31, 2020 through January 7, 2021. Online: January 8, 2021 through January 13, 2021. Potential access interruptions: January 16, 2021 – February 5, 2021. Please note that if you do not

The new BVI portal is back on line and open for FATCA and CRS reporting. The deadline for CRS (where extensions were previously granted upon receipt of valid reasons) and FACTA is September 30, 2020. Reset your portal bookmark to  BVIITA.VG because BVIFARS.GOV.VG is no longer in use. For assistance, please contact me via my contact page or at elizabeth@elizabethmcmorrowlaw.com .

FATCA 2014. CRS 2016. Your organization has studied the rules for these regimes and employees know exactly what needs to be done. You’re thrilled that everyone has been doing their jobs well over the past years. But did you document these processes and update them? If not, you may still be subject to penalties. FATCA v CRS FATCA and CRS seek to create transparency in taxation across jurisdictions. The local tax authority collects certain information from Financial Institution

Many tax authorities around the world have slowed down due to the pandemic but the British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (ITA) is keeping busy. The ITA has started sending out notices to BVI Financial Institutions (FIs) requesting a copy of the BVI FI’s CRS policies and procedures. The penalty for failing to produce the document could be as much as US$100,000. Legal P&P Requirement BVI law requires that a BVI FI “establish, implement and maintain written policies