The British Virgin Islands (BVI) are part of the Virgin Islands archipelago located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The other islands are the Spanish Virgin Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The BVI are also called the “Virgin Islands” and are a British overseas territory. British Virgin Islanders are classified as British Overseas Territories citizens with entitlement to become full UK citizens.
The British Virgin Islands is a compliant jurisdiction, which has never been blacklisted by the FATF and the OECD. It has started to implement OECD’s automatic exchange of information for tax purposes (AEoI) through the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) in 2017.
The BVI is one of the most popular, oldest, and most reputable offshore jurisdiction, which makes it very simple and easy to bank with a BVI company. Particularly in Asia, a British Virgin Island company is a very popular legal entity.
The British Virgin Islands is effectively a ZERO tax jurisdiction as it does does not levy corporate tax, including no taxes on capital gains and investment income. All dividends, compensations, rents, and royalties are also exempted from BVI taxes. No withholding tax is levied on dividend, interest and royalty payments to non-residents. BVI does not levy direct personal taxes. Personal income, as well as, capital gains, net wealth and inheritances are not subject to taxation.
An adequate economic substance is required for BVI Business Companies conducting relevant activities pursuant to the recently enacted Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, 2018. Relevant activities include: Banking Business, Insurance Business, Fund Management Business, Finance and Leasing Business, Shipping Business, Pure equity holding business, Intellectual property Business, Distribution and service center business (trading goods with or providing services to foreign affiliates).
As there are large penalties for operating such businesses with little or no economic substance, these business models should be avoided when incorporating in the BVI.
With the exception of the recently adopted economic substance regulations due to pressure from the FATF and OECD, the BVI laws are extremely favorable and lend themselves well to various business models as well as excellent asset protection vehicles, often in combination with a Trust. The directors of a BVI BC may protect the assets by transferring its assets to another company, trust, foundation, association or partnership; the directors can also merge or consolidate with any other company or can re-domicile the BC to another jurisdiction entirely.
Having funds secured away OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES in an International Bank Account is extremely important in times when currency controls and government interference are getting more and more brazen... If you are targeted and ALL YOUR FUNDS are within the United States, it could ALL EASILY BE SEIZED in a single day....a VERY BAD DAY, leaving you unable to mount a legal defense since you will have NO ACCESS TO YOUR OWN MONEY.
The principal goal of International Asset Protection is to place your assets outside of the jurisdiction of the country's court system where you are resident. With regard to liquid assets, the primary way to accomplish this is by moving funds offshore using Offshore Bank Accounts held by either a foreign corporation / Limited Limited Company or by establishing a Bahamas International Asset Protection (Dynasty) Trust.
Opening an International bank account and a brokerage account for your International Company is a key step in the process of diversifying assets outside the jurisdiction of the United States and a key step in securing your future.
Most of our International Incorporation packages include account opening services. We accomplish this, for the most part, without our client (the account signatory) needing to travel. The process can however be daunting, as the “Know Your Client” (KYC) due diligence checks made by the various Institutions and Banking Service Providers are very thorough. You will need to provide detailed information on the purpose of incorporating and the source of funds to be used to capitalize the company (or Trust). Certified Copies of a passport, a drivers’ License, a proof of residential address and a professional or banking reference are also required - and these are all required BEFORE we can begin the incorporation or Trust formation process.
Fortunately, a new generation of FinTech banking service providers has recently entered the market, giving us respite from what had become a horrendous underwriting procedure engaged upon by every offshore bank, wherein every applicant was looked upon as a criminal until proven otherwise. With the arrival of FinTech we are often able to provide scanned and uploaded documents rather than old school “hard copies” notarized and certified and shipped by FedEx around the world several times (before an approval could be given). FinTech has partnered with and given us access to banks that previously would have been inaccessible due to extremely high opening balance requirements. FinTech has given us access to multi-currency bank accounts with IBAN numbers and “local” accounts all over the world, all within an app on a device that we can carry everywhere. Yes, looking at recent developments, we are optimistic for the future!
Because of laws and regulations such as FATCA, opening accounts for U.S. citizens and residents is certainly more challenging than for a European citizen for example, but we are continually researching, testing, and developing our relationships. Our Bank Account Opening Service is included with most of our International Incorporation Packages and our success rate is high, but please note however, that we cannot guarantee that you will be able to open an account as this process is out of our control and conditional upon the Bank's policies and procedures. In the rare circumstance that we are unable to open an account for you, we will refund the account opening fee, but we DO NOT refund the fees paid for the incorporation packages.
Please note that the fee that we charge for account opening services will be clearly indicated in your invoice that will be presented to you prior to you becoming a client. Please also note the the fee charged rarely covers our costs, as the process is extremely time intensive. We offer the service out of necessity and as a service to our clients. Please note that the Banks themselves may also charge an "account opening fee" - this is common when an international company search must be completed or if the bank agrees to open the account remotely (without a personal visit). This fee is usually payable only when the account has been opened and is usually deducted from your initial deposit.
One of the keys to our account opening success is the provision of “Nominee” Director services in our packages, so the Director deals with the banking service provider throughout the entire process until an account approval is given, at which time, the bank will release the new account details, login/passwords etc. only to the account signatories.
The selection of the banking service provider is best left with the Director and will be made after consideration of all factors including the purpose of incorporation, jurisdiction of incorporation, intended use of the account, nationality/residency of account signatories and shareholders and other factors. If you have specific requirements for banking in a certain jurisdiction for example because you want to operate an e-commerce business, this should be discussed with one of our senior consultants PRIOR to incorporation.
Electing to have the income of your International Corporation/IBC or LLC flow through the company directly to the shareholder/members so that the income is reported on your 1040, with greatly simplify your offshore tax reporting.
This process and our service includes obtaining an I.R.S. Tax I.D (EIN). for the Company as well as electing "Foreign Disregarded Entity (FDE) Status", for one member/shareholder companies, or "Foreign Partnership Status" for multi-member companies.
Initial I.R.S. filings include:
- Initial filing of form SS-4 to obtain an EIN for the company
- Initial filing of form 8832 to elect FDE or Foreign Partnership status
Once the International Entity obtains "pass-through" status, compliance becomes a reasonably simple matter and the complicated "Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC)" filing (IRS Form 5471) is eliminated.
You will need to work with your Accountant or C.P.A. to file Form 8858 (detail) (single member FDE status) along with your 1040, and for the Foreign Partnership status, we recommend pro-actively filing a regular U.S. partnership form (1065) along with the required Form 8865 (detail) to fulfill the "offshore" filing requirement. In addition to reporting the income of your International Corporation / IBC / LLC there are also reporting requirements for Foreign Financial Assets and Foreign Financial Accounts so you will probably also need to file the following forms, but please don't take our word for it, instead, please take advice from your accountant or C.P.A. (or ask us for a referral):
- Form 8938 (detail) - Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets
- Form FBAR/FinCEN Form 114 (detail) - Foreign Financial Accounts (online filing)
Also, once you become a client we will provide you with reminder notices in advance of the filing deadlines of the various forms.
PLEASE NOTE: Just because the assets are disclosed to the I.R.S. does not mean that the I.R.S. can seize the assets! Once outside the U.S.A., the I.R.S. becomes a creditor, just like any other creditor and must go through a VERY COMPLEX LEGAL PROCEDURE before it can hope to collect on any of these assets and will have no more success than the average (disappointed) creditor.
This package is ideal to provide "bullet proof" asset protection when combined with a Bahamas Offshore Asset Protection Trust. Uses include holding assets such as liquid assets, commodities or notes/securities to be held outside of the jurisdiction of a U.S. court. Opening an offshore bank account and perhaps a brokerage account for your BVIBC is a key step in the process of diversifying assets outside the jurisdiction of the United States and a key step in protecting your assets.
A BVIBC is equally suited to establish an offshore operating business for an international client base or for a high risk business model where the shareholders prefer an international solution rather than a U.S. solution, even though the shareholders themselves may be U.S. persons and have U.S. reporting requirements.
A BVIBC is one of the most readily accepted "Offshore entities" when attempting to open bank accounts in jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland.
By packaging and automating services rather than providing countless "custom" services, we have been able to provide a comprehensive yet inexpensive package that is unmatched in the industry:
BVI Business Company & Bank a/c Package includes:
- Certificate of Incorporation/Formation ($600.00)
- Memorandum & Articles of Association
- Filing Register of Directors ($70.00)
- BVI Government Licence Fee ($450.00)
- BVI Government Fee - Register of Directors ($50.00)
- Disbursements incl delivery & digital seal ($130.00)
- BVI Registered Agent Service ($500.00)
- Offshore Company Secretary ($250.00)
- Offshore Nominee Director ($500.00)
- I.R.S. "Pass-through" election taxation - if requested by U.S. person - FREE ($250.00 value)
- Offshore Reglatory KYC Administration ($150.00)
- Offshore bank account opening ($500.00)
If this is your first time considering an international solution, the process can be daunting, as the “Know Your Client” (KYC) due diligence checks made by the various offshore service providers, Banks and banking service providers are very thorough. You will need to provide detailed information on the purpose of incorporating and the source of funds to be used to capitalize the company (or Trust). Certified Copies of a passport, a Drivers’ License, a proof of residential address and a professional or banking reference are also required - and these are all required BEFORE we can begin the incorporation or Trust formation process.
Immediately upon receiving your order, we will send you the complete requirements. If you are unable or unwilling to meet these requirements and you inform us of this within the first 48 hours, your order will be cancelled and you will receive a full refund. PLEASE NOTE that any and all client due diligence provided will be held confidentially OUTSIDE of the United States.
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Price: $3200.00
(renewal only $1950.00)
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