Offshore Common Law
Founders maintaining a legacy SPV (special purpose vehicle), British Virgin Islands
BVI Business Companies Act offers fast, flexible structures for grandfathered holding vehicles. The Economic Substance Act 2018 still permits passive holding regimes with limited substance for pure equity SPVs.
BVI Business Companies ActFSCPure equity holding
Start setup {placement} 4 min · no card required
Corp tax
0%
Fastest setup
7 days
Region
Offshore
What you'll need
- No resident director required
- Local registered office required
- Economic-substance test applies
- Minimum capital: No minimum capital
- Administrative language: English
- Legal system: Common law
Tax and treaty profile
- Corporate tax 0%
- VAT rate 0%
- Withholding on dividends 0%
Banking and payments
- Banking is restrictive without local presence
- Stripe not supported
Considerations
If banking and Stripe matter more than tax
BVI is on the EU AML high risk list and FATF grey list, so banks open accounts in 180 days if at all. Stripe and Mercury do not support BVI entities. For an operating company, look elsewhere:
EU AML high riskFATF grey listNo Stripe/Mercury