Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Order, 2014 (Poland TIEA) (SI 2014 No. 11)

Summary

This Order brings into effect, under the Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Act 2003, a bilateral Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) between the British Virgin Islands and Poland. It applies Part I of the Act to the Agreement set out in the Schedule, giving the BVI's competent authority (the Financial Secretary) the legal basis to exchange tax-related information with Poland's Ministry of Finance.

• Scope: Covers exchange of information foreseeably relevant to the assessment, enforcement, investigation or prosecution of income tax, payroll tax and property tax (BVI) and personal income tax, corporate income tax and goods and services tax (Poland).
• Information sources: Requires that BVI's competent authority be able to obtain and provide, on request, information held by banks, other financial institutions, nominees, trustees, and ownership information on companies, partnerships, trusts and foundations.
• Confidentiality: Information exchanged must be kept confidential, used only for the purposes stated in Article 1, and not disclosed to any other jurisdiction.
• Response timelines: The Requested Party's competent authority must confirm receipt of a request and flag deficiencies within 60 days, and explain any inability to provide information within 90 days of receipt.
• Grounds for refusal: A request may be declined if not made in conformity with the Agreement, if the Requesting Party has not exhausted domestic means, if disclosure would breach public policy, or if it would reveal privileged legal communications or trade secrets.

The Agreement operates at the government-to-government level; it does not itself impose direct filing or reporting duties on BVI businesses, but financial institutions, trustees, nominees and entities holding ownership records may be required to furnish information to the competent authority when a valid request is made under the Agreement.

Key obligations

• Banks, other financial institutions, nominees and trustees must provide information held by them to the BVI competent authority when required to respond to a valid information request under the Agreement.
• Persons holding ownership records for companies, partnerships, trusts and foundations must be able to furnish ownership and beneficiary/settlor/trustee information to the competent authority on request.
• The BVI competent authority (Financial Secretary) must confirm receipt of an information request and notify Poland's competent authority of any deficiencies within 60 days of receipt.
• The BVI competent authority must inform Poland's competent authority in writing if it is unable to obtain and provide requested information within 90 days, or if obstacles or refusal arise.
• Information exchanged under the Agreement must be kept confidential and used only for the purposes specified in Article 1, and not disclosed to any other jurisdiction.

Applies to

banks, other financial institutions, trustees and nominees, companies, partnerships, trusts and foundations, competent authority (Financial Secretary)

Deadlines

• 60 days of receipt of the request: Requested Party's competent authority must notify the Requesting Party of any deficiencies in an information request.
• 90 days of receipt of the request: Requested Party must inform the Requesting Party if it has been unable to obtain and provide requested information, or of obstacles/refusal.
• first day of the third month after receipt of the last notification: The Agreement enters into force following mutual notification by both Contracting Parties of completion of domestic procedures.

Related documents

• This document is made under Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Act, 2003 (No. 18 of 2003)