The International Tax Authority (ITA) of the Ministry of Finance of the British Virgin Islands has published 'version 2.0' of its 'guidance notes' about the inter-governmental agreements between the BVI, the USA and the United Kingdom.

The notes were first issued in July 2014. The new version extends the deadline to June 30, 2015 (it was previously set for 31 May) for reporting financial institutions to report to the islands' International Tax Authority with respect to the 2014 reporting year for the US Foreign Assets Tax Compliance Act 2010.

The ITA has also announced that the BVI Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS) will be available to the public from 15 April onwards.  As of that date, the ITA will accept applications for enrolment from reporting financial institutions. Further details are set out in Section 17.12 of the guidance notes, with more guidance to come in due course.

A copy of 'version 2.0' can be found on the Government's website at www.bvi.gov.vg/fatca.