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Overview

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Identifiers

Collect two identifiers from each business customer in British Virgin Islands and submit them as strings on the application body. Tax ID: The BVI levies no corporate income tax, capital gains tax, or withholding tax on BVI Business Companies. For CRS/AEOI purposes, BVI does not issue TINs to offshore entities (confirmed by OECD CRS TIN guidance). Since 2023, the BVI Inland Revenue Department assigns domestic Tax Identifier Numbers via the SIGTAS 3.0 system (eregisterfortax.gov.vg) to persons and entities subject to domestic taxes (payroll tax, hotel accommodation tax, property tax). A BVI Business Company that employs staff in the BVI is required to register and obtain a domestic TIN; a purely offshore BC with no BVI-based employees or taxable domestic activity is not. The company registration number from ROCA remains the primary administrative identifier for offshore entities, and the GIIN applies to BVI financial institutions for FATCA/CRS reporting. Registration number: Unique numeric identifier assigned by the Registrar of Corporate Affairs at incorporation under the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 (No. 16 of 2004). Appears on the Certificate of Incorporation and all subsequent ROCA filings including the Memorandum and Articles of Association. ROCA operates the VIRRGIN (Virtual Integrated Registry and Regulatory General Information Network) platform for electronic filing. Numbers are sequential and currently in the 6–7 digit range.

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Sector regulators

BVI Financial Services Commission (FSC) · Financial Investigation Agency (FIA / FIU) · International Tax Authority (ITA) — Economic Substance filings · Inland Revenue Department

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How documents combine

For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.

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Documents to collect

The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed. Not applicable in British Virgin Islands: Operating Permit. Skip these areas — no local artifact exists.

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Collection notes

  • Legal Registration: Issued by the Registry of Corporate Affairs (ROCA) upon incorporation under the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 (as revised); confirms the company name, BVI Company Number, date of incorporation, and that the company satisfied all statutory requirements. Available in certified (USD 75) and uncertified (USD 50) form. Since July 2014 certificates include a QR code / certificate ID for online validation via the BVI FSC website. Electronic and printed versions are both in use. Company incorporations are filed electronically through the VIRRGIN system.
  • Constitutive Documents: Filed with ROCA at incorporation under the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 (as revised); constitutes the company’s constitutional document setting out the company name, type (limited by shares / guarantee / unlimited), registered office, registered agent, objects (unrestricted unless limited), authorised shares, and articles governing internal management. The Memorandum and Articles are a combined document and may be amended by resolution filed with ROCA. For Limited Partnerships (LP Act, 2017), the constitutive document is a Limited Partnership Agreement (LPA) rather than M&A. The document heading invariably reads ‘TERRITORY OF THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS / BVI Business Companies Act, 2004’ followed by ‘MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION’.
  • Tax Registration: The BVI imposes no corporate income tax, capital gains tax, or withholding tax on BVI Business Companies. No TIN is issued for domestic tax purposes (OECD CRS confirmed). The Inland Revenue Department issues a Certificate of Tax Exemption (fee USD 200; valid 12 months; processing 3 business days) confirming exemption from income tax. For FATCA/CRS-reporting financial institutions, the GIIN (Global Intermediary Identification Number) issued by the US IRS is used. The BVI Company Number on the Certificate of Incorporation is the closest equivalent fiscal identifier in BOSS/VIRRGIN filings and is used for Economic Substance declarations filed with the International Tax Authority (ITA).
  • Sector-Specific License: Sector-specific licences and registrations issued by the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (FSC) under the relevant legislation. Key regulatory frameworks: Banks and Trust Companies Act, 1990 (Cap. 149) for banking, deposit-taking, and trust/fiduciary services (three licence classes: General Banking Licence, Restricted Class I Banking Licence, Restricted Class II Banking Licence); Securities and Investment Business Act, 2010 (SIBA) for investment business (licence categories: dealing, arranging, managing, advising, custody, administration, and operating an investment exchange); Mutual Funds Act, 1996 (Cap. 247) for open-ended mutual funds; Insurance Act, 2008 (as revised) for insurance companies and insurance intermediaries; Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2022 (in force 1 February 2023) for custody, exchange, transfer, and issuance of virtual assets (registration mandatory). Financial Investigation Agency (FIA) is the national Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) receiving SARs. AML supervision shared between FSC (for regulated entities) and FIA.
  • Governance Records: Every BVI Business Company must maintain a Register of Directors at its registered agent’s office. A copy of the Register of Directors must be filed with ROCA within 15 days of the appointment of the first director, and updated within 30 days of any subsequent change (BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 as revised, including 2023 and 2024 amendments). The filed register of directors is a private filing — accessible by competent authorities and law enforcement only; not publicly searchable. A company search report (ROCA Registry Extract) ordered through ROCA will include directors’ details for a fee.
  • Signing Authority: No statutory prescribed form. Board resolutions (a Resolution of Directors under the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 terminology) are the standard method by which a BVI company authorises a person to act on its behalf — adopted at a duly convened directors’ meeting or by written resolution. A power of attorney executed by a BVI company must be executed in accordance with the company’s articles (typically by a director or authorised officer) and, for cross-border use, may be notarised and apostilled by the competent authority in the BVI.
  • Address: For BVI Business Companies, the registered address is invariably that of a licensed registered agent (legally required under the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004). A confirmation letter from the licensed registered agent is the primary evidence of registered address for offshore entities. For operating address (if any physical presence), standard evidence is a lease agreement, utility bill, or bank statement not older than 90 days. Utility bills from the BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) or water authority are the most common local utility issuers.

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Person roles

When you submit a person on the application body, set their role to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.

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Notes

  • The BVI is the world’s largest offshore corporate domicile by number of registered entities. The vast majority of companies Conduit will encounter are BVI Business Companies Limited by Shares (abbreviated BC or BVI BC), incorporated under the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 (BCA). The terms ‘IBC’ (International Business Company) — used before 2004 — and ‘BVI BC’ are often used interchangeably in market practice; all post-2004 entities are technically ‘BVI Business Companies’.
  • Since 2 January 2025, BVI companies must also file their Register of Members and Register of Directors with ROCA (previously these were only maintained at the registered agent). Failure to file these registers — or to maintain the ROBO — now affects good standing status. Allow for these filings when assessing whether a company is in good standing.
  • All BVI Business Companies must have a licensed registered agent in the BVI at all times. The registered office address is invariably that of the registered agent (e.g., Walkers, Ogier, Maples, Harneys, Conyers). Accept a registered agent confirmation letter as proof of registered address for offshore entities; do not require a separate physical premises address unless the company has actual BVI operations.
  • Economic substance: The Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, 2018 (in force 1 January 2019) requires all BVI entities conducting ‘relevant activities’ (banking, insurance, fund management, finance and leasing, headquarters business, shipping, holding company, IP, distribution and service centre) to demonstrate economic substance in the BVI and file annual declarations with the International Tax Authority (ITA). Non-compliance risks ROCA notifying foreign tax authorities and potentially striking the company from the register.
  • Payroll tax applies only if the company employs individuals in the BVI. Class 1 employers (≤7 employees, annual payroll ≤ USD 150,000, annual turnover ≤ USD 300,000) pay 10% of taxable remuneration (8% deducted from employee, 2% paid by employer). Class 2 employers (all others) pay 14% (8% employee, 6% employer). The first USD 10,000 of annual remuneration per employee is exempt.