S.I. No. 24/2011 - Exchange of Information Relating to Taxes (British Virgin Islands) Order 2011.

1. This Agreement shall remain in force until terminated by either Contracting Party.

2. Either Contracting Party may terminate this Agreement by giving notice of termination in writing. Such terminations shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of notice of termination by the other Contracting Party.

3. If the Agreement is terminated the Contracting Parties shall remain bound by the provisions of Article 8 with respect to any information obtained under this Agreement. All requests received up to the effective date of termination shall be dealt with in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorised in that behalf by the respective Contracting Parties, have signed this Agreement.

Done at London in duplicate this 7th day of December 2009.

For the Government of Ireland

For the Government of the British Virgin Islands

Bobby McDonagh

Ralph T. O’Neal

Protocol

At the moment of signing the Agreement between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the British Virgin Islands for the Exchange of Information Relating to Taxes, the undersigned have agreed that the following provision shall form an integral part of the Agreement

The intention of each Contracting Party is not to propose the application of prejudicial or restrictive measures based on harmful tax practices to residents or nationals of the other Contracting Party so long as the Agreement is in force and the Contracting Parties are meeting their obligations under the Agreement. In the event that either Contracting Party applies prejudicial or restrictive measures based on harmful tax practices to residents or citizens of the other Contracting Party, that other Contracting Party may suspend the operation of the Agreement for so long as such measures apply. If the Agreement is suspended the Contracting Parties shall remain bound by the provisions of Article 8 with respect to any information obtained under this Agreement. All requests received up to the effective date of suspension shall be dealt with in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorised in that behalf by the respective Contracting Parties, have signed this Protocol.

Done at London in duplicate this 7th day of December 2009.

For the Government of Ireland

For the Government of the British Virgin Islands

Bobby McDonagh

Ralph T. O’Neal

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Government,

11 January 2011.

BRIAN COWEN,

Taoiseach.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

This Order gives the force of law to the Tax Information Exchange Agreement between Ireland and the British Virgin Islands, which is set out in the Schedule to the Order.

This Agreement was signed in London on the 7th December 2009.

The provisions of the Agreement are summarised below.

The Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) is based on a model agreement that was developed by the OECD. The Agreement allows the tax authorities of Ireland and the British Virgin Islands to request information from each other in relation to tax matters under investigation, in particular, for bank account information and for information concerning the beneficial ownership of companies, trusts and partnerships. The taxes covered are for Ireland: income tax, the income levy, corporation tax, capital gains tax, capital acquisitions tax and value added tax and for the British Virgin Islands: the income tax, payroll tax and property tax.

There are also provisions in the Agreement that allow each Party to carry out tax investigations in the territory of the other Party, that allow for the possibility of declining a request, that cover confidentiality and that deal with which Party should bear the costs incurred in relation to exchanging information under the Agreement. There are also provisions that allow the Competent Authorities of both Parties to resolve difficulties concerning the interpretation or application of the Agreement.

The Agreement will enter into force when each country notifies the other of the completion of its procedures for bringing the Agreement into force. The Agreement will be effective for criminal tax matters from that date and for all other matters covered by the Agreement from that date also but only in respect of taxable periods beginning on or after that date.

4. The Contracting Parties may also agree on other forms of dispute resolution.

Article 13

Entry Into Force

Each of the Contracting Parties shall notify to the other in writing the completion of the procedures required by its law for the entry into force of this Agreement. This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the later notification, and shall thereupon have effect

(a) with respect to criminal tax matters on that date; and

(b) with respect to all other matters covered in Article 1 for taxable periods beginning on or after that date, or where there is no taxable period, for all charges to tax arising on or after that date.

Article 14

Termination

5. The Requested Party shall not be required to obtain and provide information which, if the requested information was within the jurisdiction of the Requesting Party, the competent authority of the Requesting Party would not be able to obtain under its laws or in the normal course of administrative practice.

6. The Requested Party may decline a request for information if the information is requested by the Requesting Party to administer or enforce a provision of the tax law of the Requesting Party, or any requirement connected therewith, which discriminates against a national of the Requested Party as compared with a national of the Requesting Party in the same circumstances.

Article 8

Confidentiality

7. The competent authority of the Requested Party shall forward the requested information as promptly as possible to the competent authority of the Requesting Party. To ensure a prompt response, the competent authority of the Requested Party shall

(a) confirm the receipt of a request in writing to the competent authority of the Requesting Party and shall notify the competent authority of the Requesting Party of any deficiencies in the request within 60 days of receipt of the request; and

(b) if the competent authority of the Requested Party has been unable to obtain and provide the information requested within 90 days of receipt of the request, or if obstacles are encountered in furnishing the information, or if the competent authority of the Requested Party refuses to provide the information, it shall immediately inform the competent authority of the Requesting Party in writing, explaining the reasons for its inability to obtain and provide the information, or the obstacles encountered, or for its refusal.

Article 6

Tax examinations (or Investigations) Abroad

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

21

st January

, 2011.

WHEREAS it is enacted by

section 826

(1B) (inserted by

section 35

of the

Finance Act 2007

(No. 11 of 2007)) of the

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997

(No. 39 of 1997) that if the Government by order declare that arrangements specified in the order have been made with the government of any territory outside the State in relation to exchanging information for the purposes of the prevention and detection of tax evasion in the case of taxes of any kind or description imposed by the laws of the State or by the laws of that territory, and that it is expedient that those arrangements should have the force of law, and that the order so made is specified in Part 3 of Schedule 24A of the

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997

, then subject to section 826 of that Act, the arrangements shall, notwithstanding any enactment, have the force of law as if such order were an Act of the Oireachtas on and from the date of the insertion of a reference to the order into Part 3 of Schedule 24A

AND WHEREAS it is further enacted by

section 826

(6) of the

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997

that where such an order is proposed to be made, a draft of the order shall be laid before Dáil Éireann and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by Dáil Éireann

AND WHEREAS a draft of the following Order has been laid before Dáil Éireann and a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by Dáil Éireann

NOW, the Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by

section 826

(1B) of the

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997

, hereby order as follows