On 17 October 2023, the Council of the European Union issued a press release advising of the removal of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) (as well as Costa Rica and the Marshall Islands) from the EU list of noncooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes (annex I). The BVI was added to annex I in February 2023 after being found to be no longer “largely compliant,” but instead “partially compliant” with the OECD standard on exchange of information on request.
The “partially compliant” rating given to the BVI reflected the legal and regulatory framework in place as of 9 September 2022, and the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes did not consider legislative changes that were put in place in 2022 and that entered into force on 1 January 2023. The BVI government requested a supplementary review to more accurately reflect the BVI’s current legislative status, which was officially granted on 6 April 2023. Pending this reassessment with the global forum, the BVI has been included in the EU “state of play” document (annex II), which reflects jurisdictions that have committed to implementing reforms.
In a press release issued on 17 October 2023, the BVI government welcomed the country’s removal from annex I.
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