Anguilla Economic Substance Requirements: 2026 Guide

Key takeaways

• Economic substance returns are filed together with the annual return (Business Companies Act, 2022, s.275(2)(a)).
• The deadline is the last day of the calendar quarter containing the incorporation anniversary.
• There are nine activities deemed to be relevant. Companies that does not carry relevant activities still file a nil Economic Suubstance declaration.
• The relevant activity test comprises of three conditions: adequate resources, core income-generating activities, and mind and management located in Anguilla.
• Penalties reach $25,000 for a first failure and $100,000 for each subsequent year, plus strike-off the register.
• Anguilla remains on EU Annex I list of uncooperative jurisdictions as at 17 February 2026.

What are Anguilla’s economic substance requirements?

Anguilla joined the OECD BEPS Inclusive Framework in 2018 and brought substance requirements into force from 1 July 2019.

The Business Companies Act, 2022 (Act No. 2/2022) repealed the Companies Act, the International Business Companies Act and the Protected Cell Companies Act, and recast economic substance as Part 18, sections 273 to 282. Section 287(1) saves the 2019 economic substance regulations, which continue to prescribe the relevant activities and the test itself.

Which activities are in scope?

The Registrar’s guidance lists nine geographically mobile relevant activities:

Do dormant Anguilla companies have to file Economic Substance report?

Yes, all entities must file Economic Substance report as part of the annual return, whether they carry on relevant activities or not.

This is the most commonly misunderstood part of the ES requirements. The Anguilla copmanies that are not involved in the relevant activities are not subject to the economic substance test. It does not mean that they are not subject to the filing.

The Anguilla economic substance test

An entity carrying on a relevant activity that generates income must satisfy three conditions:

Condition A – adequate resources in Anguilla

An adequate resorces means that the company must have adequate number of qualified employees physically present in Anguilla, an adequate level of expenditure incurred in Anguilla, and adequate physical assets in Anguilla, whether leased, rented or owned. The adequacy itself is subjected and is on discretion of the authorities.

Condition B – core income-generating activities in Anguilla

The appropriate CIGA must be carried on in Anguilla, rather than in other jurisdictions.

Condition C – mind and management in Anguilla

The relevant activity must be directed and managed in an appropriate manner in the territory of Anguilla.

No numerical thresholds apply. Adequacy is measured against the level of activity actually carried on, so a modest royalty structure is not held to the standard of a licensed bank.

CIGA are treated as carried on in Anguilla where performed by qualified full-time employees in Anguilla, or outsourced to a provider whose own employees work there. The listed CIGA are inclusive, not exhaustive,  the test is whether the activities that in fact create the income happen in Anguilla.

Reduced test for holding companies

A pure equity holding company under the Anguilla ES regulations is a company that holds shares or equitable interests and earns only dividends and capital gains. If it carries on any other relevant activity, or earns income of a different character such as rent, it falls outside the definition.

Where the pure equity holding company relevant activity applies, the test reduces to two requirements: compliance with all applicable statutory filing requirements, and adequate human resources and premises in Anguilla for holding and managing equity participations.

The Registrar’s guidance accepts that a registered office service provider may satisfy these reduced requirements for passively held equity interests, depending on the level and complexity of activity the business requires.

Can an Anguilla company be exempt?

Yes, Anguilla company can be exempt from ES requirements in the cases where it is tax resident elsewhere. In this case, three conditions shall apply:

1. It is centrally managed and controlled, or carries on the relevant activity, in a jurisdiction where it may be charged tax at 10% or higher.
2. It is resident for tax purposes in that jurisdiction.
3. It files evidence of that residence with the Registrar, together with evidence that an appropriate tax return was submitted there in relation to the relevant activity.

Acceptable evidence includes proof of a corporate income tax payment, a certificate from the relevant competent authority, a tax demand, or confirmation of a self-assessment. Without it, the exemption does not apply.

Where documentation is not yet available, the Registrar may treat an entity as provisionally resident elsewhere for a reasonable period, anticipated at no more than twelve months, provided residence was established for the previous year and is certified as unchanged.

Note that claiming the exemption is itself a trigger for spontaneous information exchange where the Registrar considers a relevant activity was carried on.

When is the Anguilla economic substance return due?

The Economic Substance return is filed together with the annual return. The filing date is stipulated in Anguilla Business Companies Act in section 273(5) by two definitions: first, the relevant quarter is the calendar quarter containing the anniversary of incorporation, continuance or first registration, and second, the relevant year is the twelve months immediately preceding the first day of that quarter.

Below is the table with exact dates:

Returns must be in the prescribed form and certified as correct by a director, officer, registered agent or liquidator. Filings go through CRES via the registered agent, who cross-checks and certifies the submission. Failure to file is an offence under section 275(4) of Anguilla Business Companies Act, separate from any question of whether the test is met.

Filings are confidential and shared only through established exchange-of-information protocols.

Anguilla Economic Substance penalties

Where the Registrar considers a company non-compliant, section 276 of the Act allows a written notice requiring a return, a revised return, or further evidence within 7 to 30 days. Information subject to legal professional privilege is protected.

If the company still fails to comply, section 277 of the Act penalties apply:

Penalties are payable within 30 days and recoverable as a Crown debt. A company may appeal to a Judge in Chambers within 90 days.

Separately, section 241(1)(a)(iii) of the Act makes substance failure a free-standing ground for strike-off from the register of companies. The Registrar must give at least 30 days’ show-cause notice and publish in the Gazette, strike-off takes effect from the Gazette date. Section 277(8) of the Act confirms that penalties do not limit the strike-off enforcement.

Records relating to the return must be kept at the registered office for six years after the end of the relevant year, according to s.280 of the Act.

Anguilla’s international standing

Anguilla remains on Annex I of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions. The Council’s 17 February 2026 update removed Fiji, Samoa and Trinidad and Tobago and added Viet Nam and the Turks and Caicos Islands, leaving ten listed jurisdictions. The next revision is due in October 2026.

Listing matters commercially, not just reputationally. EU member states apply defensive measures against listed jurisdictions, which can include withholding tax on outbound payments and denial of deductions, and the listing feeds into EU public country-by-country reporting.

Enforcement is also tightening domestically. In January 2026 the Anguilla Financial Services Commission issued a draft Registrar of Companies (Compliance Measures) Bill, 2026 for consultation, introducing further supervisory and enforcement powers. It remains in draft.

Practical steps recommendations

• Count deadline from the incorporation anniversary, not the calendar year. Four possible deadlines apply, according to the table above.
• Assess relevant activity by reference to income, not stated objects.
• Document the assessment each year. The six-year retention period makes reconstruction after the fact difficult.
• Obtain real evidence where the foreign tax residence exemption is claimed.
• Disregard pre-2022 articles describing IBCs, ACORN, or standalone substance regulations.

Conclusion

Anguilla’s test follows the OECD standard closely and offers workable routes for holding companies and for entities genuinely taxed elsewhere. What distinguishes the regime is enforcement: a filing obligation on every registered entity, penalties reaching $100,000 a year, and a statutory strike-off ground.

The obligations are manageable when assessed annually and evidenced properly. They become expensive when a structure runs for years on the assumption that a dormant company has nothing to file. Substance sits alongside the annual return, beneficial ownership filing and government fee as a standing obligation of Anguilla company formation.

For help with Anguilla substance assessments, CRES filings, or a review of an existing structure, contact the Astra Trust team.

Primary sources

1. Anguilla Business Companies Act, 2022 — Anguilla Commercial Registry
2. Anguilla’s Guidance on Economic Substance Requirements V.1, June 2025 — Registrar of Companies
3. EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions, 17 February 2026 — Council of the European Union
4. Draft Registrar of Companies (Compliance Measures) Bill, 2026 — Anguilla Financial Services Commission

This guide is not legal or tax advice. Economic substance outcomes depend on the facts of the particular structure, obtain advice before acting.