{"id":8851,"date":"2024-07-15T12:48:14","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T17:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/?p=8851"},"modified":"2024-07-25T08:57:52","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T13:57:52","slug":"new-requirement-to-file-an-annual-bvi-financial-return-for-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/client-advisory\/new-requirement-to-file-an-annual-bvi-financial-return-for-2024-8851\/","title":{"rendered":"Deadline approaching to file the BVI Annual Financial Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Pursuant to the BVI Business Companies (Financial Return) Order, 2023 (the \u201c<strong>Order<\/strong>\u201d) (available<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bvifsc.vg\/sites\/default\/files\/bvi_business_companies_financial_return_order_2023.pdf\">here<\/a><\/strong>), every BVI company is required to file with its registered agent an annual financial return (the \u201c<strong>Annual Return<\/strong>\u201d) <strong><u>within 9 months<\/u> <\/strong>of either the company\u2019s calendar year or, if the company\u2019s financial year is not a calendar year, the company\u2019s financial year.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Exemptions<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A BVI-registered company is exempt from filing an annual return if it meets\u00a0any\u00a0of the criteria listed below:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It is listed on a stock exchange.<\/li>\n<li>It is regulated under a BVI financial services legislation and provides financial statements to the BVI Financial Services Commission per the requirements of that financial services legislation (i.e. BVI funds and licensees).<\/li>\n<li>It submits its financial statements and annual tax return to the BVI Inland Revenue Department.<\/li>\n<li>It is undergoing liquidation, with the provision that this exemption is not applicable if the annual return is due before the liquidation process commences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Format and filing of the Annual Return<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The annual return consists of a simple income statement and balance sheet and a copy of the prescribed form of the Annual Return is available <strong><u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Form-of-Annual-Financial-Return-Update.docx\">here<\/a><\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 The BVI Financial Services Commission has confirmed that the form of annual return should not be adjusted or amended, save for non-material amendments.<\/p>\n<p>There is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">no need for the annual return to be audited<\/span> and there are no prescribed set of accounting policies or principles that must be adhered to.<\/p>\n<p>The Annual Return is not publicly accessible and a BVI company\u2019s registered agent is not required to submit the returns to any BVI regulatory body unless explicitly requested.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Filing Deadline<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>BVI companies must file the Annual Return<strong><u> within 9 months<\/u> <\/strong>of either the company\u2019s calendar year or, if the company\u2019s financial year is not a calendar year, the company\u2019s financial year.<\/p>\n<p>As an example, a company with a financial <u>year end of 31 December<\/u> will be required to file its first annual financial return no later than <strong>30 September 2024 <\/strong>with respect to the financial period <u>1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023<\/u><strong>.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If a company has a fiscal or financial year that does not correspond to a calendar year, its annual return becomes due in 2024, depending on the month in which the commencement of its financial year falls. Below are two examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If a BVI-registered company has a financial year from 1 May 2023 to 30 April 2024, it must file its first annual return for the period ending 30 April 2024 between 1 May 2024 and 31 January 2025. The company must file every subsequent year before 31 January.<\/li>\n<li>If a BVI-registered company has a financial year from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024, it must file its first annual return for the period ending 30 June 2024 between 1 July 2024 and 31 March 2025. The company must file every subsequent year before 31 March.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Consequences for failure to file <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If a BVI company misses its filing deadline, the registered agent must report this defect to the BVI Registry of Corporate Affairs (BVI Registry), or it will be liable to a fine of US$3,000. Once the defective notice is issued, the BVI company will be liable to fines (ranging from US$300 \u2013 US$5,000) and it may be struck-off and dissolved. Until the defect is remedied, the BVI Registry will not issue a certificate of good standing for the Company or allow it to make any filings.<\/p>\n<p>Please note that the BVI Annual Financial Return is a requirement of the BVI Business Companies Act (as revised) and is separate to the BVI economic substance regime.<\/p>\n<p>If you have any questions about the Annual Return, please email <a href=\"mailto:BVI-Entities@campbellslegal.com\">BVI-Financials@campbellslegal.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every BVI company is required to file with its registered agent an annual financial return within 9 months of either the company\u2019s calendar year or, if the company\u2019s financial year is not a calendar year, the company\u2019s financial year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[1133,2920,1010,989],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8851"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8851"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8886,"href":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8851\/revisions\/8886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8851"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campbellslegal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=8851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}