The government of the British Virgin Islands is introducing a seven-percent tax on all monies leaving the territory through money transfer agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This will be made possible through a bill entitled the Financing & Money Services (Amendment) Act 2020, which passed in the House of Assembly on Friday, April 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe fee applies only with respect to monies transferred outside the territory and is to be collected by the licensed transmitter to be paid to the Financial Services Commission (FSC),\u201d Premier Andrew Fahie said during Friday\u2019s sitting of the House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fahie, who is also the Minister of Finance, further said the monies collected from all transactions will be deposited into a fund earmarked for various national development initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sectors to benefit from fund<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While listing a number of areas that will benefit from the fund, Fahie said each of those areas will get 20 percent of the overall taxes collected for monies sent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said these areas include programmes benefitting seniors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis will include infrastructure, assistance programmes and other initiatives subject to Cabinet\u2019s approval,\u201d Fahie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added: \u201cEducational programmes, infrastructure, scholarships \u2013 specifically medical, hospitality, fishing and agriculture areas \u2013 and other initiatives subject to Cabinet\u2019s approval will [also] get 20 percent of the proceeds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Landbank and first-time homeowners, as well as the fisheries and agriculture sectors, are the three other areas that will each benefit from 20 percent of the overall fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7% funds not to receive deductions from FSC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Finance Minister also said the monies collected from the seven percent will not be subject to other deductions after being collected by the FSC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Fahie, this is to maximize the revenue that will be available to support all intended initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe monies collected by the commission will not be subject to the statutory sliding scale percentage withholdings deducted by the commission, and any other revenue that the commission collects and pays over to the government under the Financial Services and Commission Act,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Premier Fahie described the Bill as a very important development in the territory\u2019s financial services. He said it is needed for times when economies across the world are threatened by pandemics such as COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Financing & Money Services (Amendment) Act must now be assented by the governor to become law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government of the British Virgin Islands is introducing a seven-percent tax on all monies leaving the territory through money transfer agencies. This will be made possible through a bill entitled the Financing & Money Services (Amendment) Act 2020, which passed in the House of Assembly on Friday, April 17. \u201cThe fee applies only with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":10173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-regional-and-international-news"],"yoast_head":"\n