The International Tax Authority has provided further particulars that are to be borne in mind with respect to Economic Substance following the press release issued by the International Tax Authority (ITA) on March 18:

• where possible, recourse should be had to the appointment of alternate directors in the BVI in order to meet substance requirements;

• all directors do not have to attend Board meetings in the BVI - only as many as required to make the meeting quorate (given social distancing protocols, virtual meetings may be preferred);

• not all Board meetings need to be held in the BVI - only those related to core income generating activities;

• where it is still not possible to have a Board meeting in the BVI or to meet some other substance requirement due to restrictions (whether in the BVI or otherwise) due to the Covid-19 outbreak, then entities are urged to retain documentation to be able to support such claims for the applicable periods of time affected;

• individual requests should be made to the ITA for any extension of time within which to comply with Notices, along with any supporting evidence.

Entities should note that this is only a temporary arrangement and are therefore urged to make every effort to otherwise comply with full substance requirements (including filing deadlines) as the practical and reasonable approach described above can only obtain where entities need to make adjustments to their usual operating practices and so far as these are necessary to manage threats from the Covid-19 outbreak.

Persons seeking more information should contact 1 (284) 468 – 4415 or email to info@bviita.vg.