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11 March 2013

Dear Valued Client,

Re: Change record-keeping requirements introduced in BVI

The recent enactment of the Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) (Amendment) Act 2012, and the Partnership (Amendment) Act 2012 (the "Reforms") brought some changes to the record keeping obligations for all BVI companies and limited partnerships. 

The Reforms came into effect from the date of assent on 12 November 2012, and were introduced as a result of the Phase 1 Peer Review Report published in August 2011 on the BVI by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (“Global Forum”), which found that rules to keep reliable accounting records including underlying documentation for a period of at least five years were not consistently in place in the BVI.  As all members of the Global Forum must adhere to the same requirements in relation to their record keeping, a recommendation was issued for action by the Government, and the Reforms were adopted accordingly.

All companies registered in the BVI are now required to keep records and underlying documentation (particularly accounts) relating to transactions for a minimum of five years. By way of clarification the Global Forum uses in its report the terminology “accounting records”, which is further defined by the OECD as “all documents and books used in the preparation of the tax return and all financial statements, including general ledger, subsidiary ledgers, sales slips, and invoices” (http://www.oecd.org/ctp/glossaryoftaxterms.htm).

The company must provide the registered agent with a written record of the physical address of the place and places at which the records and underlying documentation are kept if they are not kept at the office of the company’s registered agent.

Prior to the changes, the main record keeping requirement for a BVI company was in section 98 of the BVI Business Companies Act 2004 which require a company to keep records that (i) are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions; and (ii) will, at any time, enable the financial position of the company to be determined with reasonable accuracy. This section remains applicable to all BVI companies. 

Please complete the notification letter to Registered Agent <please click here for Chinese version>.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on +853 2870 1530 or via our Hong Kong toll free line +852 2886 7696 or by email info@offshore.com.mo.

Yours sincerely,

Offshore Inc. Limited

二零一三年三月十一日

尊貴的客戶：

關於：英屬維爾京群島更改記錄備存要求

最近制定的成文法規《2012年相互法律協助(稅務事項)(修訂)法》及《2012年合夥企業(修訂)法》(以下簡稱“改革”)訂明所有英屬維爾京群島的公司及有限責任合夥企業的記錄備存義務有所更改。

「稅務透明度及資訊交換全球論壇」(以下簡稱「全球論壇」)就英屬維爾京島事宜於2011年8月發表「第一階段同行評審報告」，「全球論壇」發現最少保存五年可靠的會計記錄及相關文件的規則，並未在英屬維爾京群島貫徹執行，由此促成“改革”於2012年11月12日生效。由於所有「全球論壇」的成員在備存會計記錄方面都必須遵守相同的要求，因此建議由政府採取行動，並採納相應的“改革”。

所有在英屬維爾京群島註冊的公司現時必須保存最少五年的交易記錄及相關文件(特別是會計帳目的記錄)。「全球論壇」更澄清在報告中所用詞彙 “會計記錄”的意思，按「經濟合作發展組織」進一步的界定為“所有用於擬備稅務申報的相關文件及簿冊，以及所有財務報表，包括總帳、明細帳、銷售單及發票” (http://www.oecd.org/ctp/glossaryoftaxterms.htm)。

如公司的記錄及相關文件並不是存放在註冊代理人處，公司必須以書面通知註冊代理人有關記錄及相關文件的實質存放地址。

在規例更改前，英屬維爾京群島公司主要按照該島的《2004年商業公司法》第98條的要求備存記錄，條例要求公司備存的記錄必須 (i) 充分顯示及解釋公司的交易; 及 (ii) 能在任何時間合理準確地釐定公司的財務狀況。本條例仍適用於所有英屬維爾京群島的公司。

商祺

Offshore Inc. Limited

此乃中文譯本，僅供參考。

如中英文本文義分歧，概以英文本為準。