BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS (BVI)

The BVI is one of our most favoured locations for forming a company or setting up communications facilities and registering domains. The BVI comprises of a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea about 50 miles (80 km) east of Puerto Rico. The islands are a self-governing British Colony that currently qualifies as the most popular offshore jurisdiction, with approximately 235,000 companies currently incorporated.

The Islands operate under a British based legal system. In 1984 the International Business Companies Act was introduced, this guarantees no Government Fees or Taxes on BVI IBC companies other than the annual licence fee. It is very important that this fee be paid punctually each year because whereas some jurisdictions simply levy increasing penalties for several years in the BVI failure to pay the licence fees by the due date results not just in penalties but worse if the fees remain outstanding for five months the company will be struck off. The annual Government fees are US$300 for authorised capital of less than US$50,000.

One of the major advantages of incorporating in the BVI is that the Islands have no double taxation treaties with any country; the only two treaties relating to taxation matters are with Japan and Switzerland, although these have limited benefit and are not applicable to offshore business in any case.

 

Suffixes to Denote Limited Liability

Corporation, Limited, Incorporated, Société Anonyme, Sociedad Anónima or their relevant abbreviations, Corp, Ltd, Inc, SA etc.

Local Corporate Requirements

Each BVI Company must:

• have registered office and agent in the BVI;
  
• have minimum of 1 director, corporate directors are permitted;
  
• have minimum of 1 shareholder;
  
• bearer shares are permitted;
  
• register of shareholders/members must be kept at the registered office and can only be inspected with the director's consent.
  

There are no requirements for:

• registers of directors and details of beneficial owners do not need to be submitted to the Registrar, however, the company may elect to do so;
  
• registers of shareholders to be submitted to the Registrar, however a
• company may elect to do so;
  
• annual meetings to be held;
  
• annual returns to be lodged.
  

 

Local Facilities And Support Services

While the BVI has an increasingly sophisticated professional and financial community the number of legal, accounting and financial institutions is still way behind the Bahamas and Cayman Islands, although in many areas confidentiality is more rigidly enforced and this compensates for the lack of sophistication in other areas. It must of course be considered that whilst a BVI company is an excellent trading vehicle it is possible to arrange banking and other facilities in numerous other excellent banking locations throughout the world such as Cyprus.

Nominee Directors

Whilst the company itself may be incorporated in an appropriate jurisdiction (and will itself be exempt from tax on foreign earnings), it is important that the directors and shareholders of the company are similarly protected. This is because many tax authorities have powers to 'deem' that the directors or shareholders are receiving an income from the company.

It is normal therefore (in some but not all circumstances) to appoint nominee directors who themselves have the correct tax status, this may or may not be in the same jurisdiction as the company, the cost of two nominee directors per annum is £300, $475 or €335 if a nominee shareholder is also required the additional cost is £100, $160 or €110.

 

Incorporation Charges

Incorporation Fee	€775	$1150	£695
Annual Fees	€550	$800	£500	Due 1st January for companies incorporated between 1st January and 30th June. Due 1st July for companies incorporated between 1st July and 31st December
If you require an internet domain registration in the BVI (www.YourCompanyName.vg) to accompany the formation the cost is £30 / $60 / EUR42 including all the free items below:  • FREE!  Online Photo Filer •  FREE!  Blog •  FREE!  Hosting •  FREE!  Complete Email •  FREE!  Forwarding / Masking •  FREE!  Change of Registration •  FREE!  Starter Web Page •  FREE!  "For Sale"/ Parked Page •  FREE!  Domain Name Locking •  FREE!  Total DNS Control

Normal Ongoing Maintenance Costs After First Year

• Total* $800.00 / €550.00 / £500.00

* For a company with authorised capital of US$50,000 or less. The annual licence fees increase incrementally if the authorised capital exceeds US$50,000.

Our Services

We usually have shelf companies available for immediate purchase, all companies are provided with a complete kit including:

• statutory registers;
  
• share certificates;
  
• 10 copies of the M&A;
  
• common seal;
  
• company chop.
  

If you prefer us to form a company in your choice of name, it will take between 10 and 21 days for the company kit and the statutory documents to arrive. We recommend you select two or three alternative names in case the first choice is unavailable.