Peru

Peru’s government has published Law 31650, expanding the tax incentives available to real estate investment funds, in line with the benefits available to real estate investment trusts. Under the law, taxpayers using such funds or trusts will be able to defer tax and benefit from reduced withholding taxes. The tax benefits will be in force until 31 December 2026.

Digital assets

Brazil

• Brazil’s Law 14,478 of 2022 was published on 22 December 2022. The law enacts increased regulation of the cryptocurrency market and adds penalties for non‑compliance.

British Virgin Islands

• The British Virgin Islands (the BVI) has enacted the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2022 (the Act), defining the activities that require registration and setting out the registration procedure and ongoing requirements and obligations to be enforced by the BVI Financial Services Commission. BVI virtual asset service providers (VASPs) whose crypto‑activities are limited to issuing tokens will be exempt from regulation. The Act grants existing VASPs a six‑month grace period to apply for registration after it comes into force.

Regulation and compliance

Argentina

• Argentina’s federal tax authority has gazetted General Resolution No.5306/2022, establishing a new mandatory disclosure regime for international transactions for various legal entities.
• The authority has also announced the removal of 15 jurisdictions from the government’s list of low‑ or no‑tax jurisdictions for the purposes of tax implications, pursuant to Decree 48/2023.

Bahamas

• The Bahamas government has tabled legislation in the House of Assembly to update the jurisdiction’s economic substance regime. Corporate entities are already required to have a genuine economic presence in the Bahamas and the Commercial Entities (Substance Requirements) (Amendment) Bill 2023 will expedite the reporting and sharing of information with other jurisdictions.

British Virgin Islands

• The EU Council of Ministers has added the BVI to the EU’s Annex 1 list of non‑cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, on the grounds that it was insufficiently compliant with the OECD standard on exchange of information on request.
• Anti‑money laundering (AML) reforms to be introduced in the BVI in 2023 will include amendments to the AML regulations and code of practice, tightening up weaknesses identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) assessors prior to the on‑site visit in March 2023. Other changes will affect the Criminal Justice (International Cooperation) Act, to ensure full compliance with FATF’s confidentiality obligations in mutual legal assistance under Recommendation 37; the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act 1997, to meet FATF Recommendations on civil forfeiture of proceeds of crime; and the Trustee Act and Financial Services (Private Trust Companies) Regulations. Legislation will also be brought forward amending the Trust and Company Service Providers Act, Banking Act, Banking Code and Financial Services Commission Act.

Colombia

• A follow‑up report from FATF notes that Colombia has made progress in fixing the defects in its AML regime since the last FATF mutual evaluation report. The country has been re‑rated from partially to largely compliant on FATF Recommendations 10 (customer due‑diligence) and 12 (politically exposed persons) and will continue in FATF’s enhanced follow‑up process.

Turks and Caicos Islands

• A FATF report on the Turks and Caicos Islands has found significant progress in remedying the AML deficiencies identified in its last mutual evaluation report in November 2019. It is now re‑rated from partially to largely compliant on Recommendations 8, 16, 22, 26, 34 and fully compliant on Recommendations 10, 14, 17, 18, 19, 23 and 40. The jurisdiction has been downgraded to non‑compliant on Recommendation 15 concerning virtual assets, largely because the recommendation itself was substantially tightened by FATF in 2021.

Uruguay

• Uruguay’s General Tax Directorate has published Resolución DGI No. 2470/022, updating the country’s list of low‑ or no‑tax jurisdictions and regimes. Certain measures apply to the listed jurisdictions, including controls on transfer pricing and increased capital gains and non‑resident withholding taxes. Thirty‑three jurisdictions are listed, but Jamaica, the Maldives and Oman have been removed since 2022. The list has been effective since 1 January 2023.

Pensions

El Salvador

• El Salvador’s legislative assembly has approved the Comprehensive Pension System Law, repealing the law that has governed pensions in the country since 1996. The new Law maintains the retirement age, but increases the old‑age pension by 30 per cent and employee pension to 16 per cent.