The Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEAs) was developed by the OECD Global Forum Working Group on Effective Exchange of Information. The competent authority responsible for dealing with tax information exchange in the BVI is the International Tax Authority. The purpose of this Agreement is to promote international co-operation in tax matters through exchange of information.

1.       Exchange of Information upon Request

The TIEA is on-request regime deals made between countries and jurisdictions that are party to bilateral. The country requesting information must provide to the Competent Authority the reasons why the information is being requested and why it is relevant to the requesting country inquiry. The following request must be in writing and must specify:

(1)	The identity of the person under examination or investigation ;
(2)	The period for which the information is requested ;
(3)	The nature of the information requested and the form in which the requested party would prefer to receive it ;
(4)	The tax purpose for which the information is sought ;
(5)	Grounds for believing that the information requested is present in the requested party or is in the possession or obtainable by a person within the jurisdiction of the requested party ;
(6)	To the extend known, the name and address of any person believed to be possession /or able to obtain the information requested ;
(7)	A statement that the request conforms with the laws and administrative practice of the requesting party, that if the requested information was within the jurisdiction of the requesting party then the competent authority of the requesting party would be able to obtain the information under laws of the requesting party or in the normal course of administrative practice and that the request is in conformity with the TIEA;
(8)	A statement that the requesting party has pursued all means available in its own territory to obtain the information.

Any request made by a party to a TIEA must contain the detail outlined above if a request is not compliant with the above, the requested party may decline to assist. 

2.       List of Treaty Partners

The BVI has signed and implemented with the following 27 countries entered into TIEAs:

Aruba	Australia	Canada
People's Republic of China	Curacao	Czech Republic
Denmark	Faroe Islands	Finland
France	Germany	Greenland
Guernsey	Iceland	India
Isle of Man	Japan	Netherlands
New Zealand	Norway	Poland
Portugal	Sint Maarten	South Korea
Sweden	United Kingdom	United States

Source from BVI International Tax Authority

3.       Compliance

When the BVI receives a request for information and the Competent Authority has determined that it is a legitimate request to which it will respond, it may require any person to provide such information as may be specified in the notice to provided that:

(1)	The person is reasonably believed to be in possession or control of the information to which the notice relates;
(2)	The information requested is information held by a bank or other financial institution, or any person acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity, including a nominee or trustee; or
(3)	The information regarding the beneficial ownership of a company, partnership or entity, or other person.

The information provided to the Competent Authority of the country requesting the information must be kept confidential and cannot be disclosed to other persons, entities, or authorities without the express written consent of the BVI Competent Authority.
 

4.        Penalties of Failure to comply with an exchange of information

Any information provided or received by the competent authorities of the Parties shall be treated as confidential and may be disclosed only to persons or authorities. Failure to comply with an exchange of information obligation in the BVI may constitute a criminal offence punishable on indictment to a fine not exceeding USD100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both.