Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

13.   Economic substance return

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   (1)   A relevant entity registered after the 31^st day of December, 2018 shall submit to the Competent Authority an economic substance return within 12 months after its first year of income. (Substituted by Act 15 of 2020)

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   (1A)   Notwithstanding subsection (1), a relevant entity shall, in subsequent years of income, submit to the Competent Authority an economic substance return within 3 months after a year of income. (Inserted by Act 15 of 2020)

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   (1B)   A relevant entity exempted under section 3(1)(a) shall, from the 1^st day of July, 2021, submit an economic substance return to the Competent Authority twelve months after the end of its year of income in the first instance. (Inserted by Act 15 of 2020)

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   (1C)   Notwithstanding subsection (1B), a relevant entity exempted under section 3(1)(a) shall, in subsequent years of income, submit to the Competent Authority an economic substance return within 3 months after a year of income. (Inserted by Act 15 of 2020)

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   (2)   An economic substance return must —

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      (a)     be filed electronically or in a manner specified by the Competent Authority;

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      (b)     include the information specified under subsection (3); and

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      (c)     unless the relevant entity is exempted under section 9, include sufficient information to enable the Competent Authority to determine whether or not it meets the economic substance requirements.

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   (3)   A relevant entity shall provide the following information when filing an economic substance return —

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      (a)     the address and location of its registered office and place of operation, whether leased, rented or owned, in and outside of Saint Lucia;

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      (b)     the name and jurisdiction of residence of the beneficial owners;

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      (c)     the number of full-time employees or other personnel with appropriate qualifications, including contracted third parties, who are in Saint Lucia;

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      (d)     the amount and type of income earned in respect of each relevant sector;

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      (e)     the amount and type of expenses incurred and assets held in respect of each relevant sector;

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      (f)     a detailed description of its core-income generating activities undertaken in Saint Lucia;

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      (g)     a statement of whether it considers that the mind and management in the relevant sector in Saint Lucia is within the meaning of subsection (4), and if so, to provide evidence.

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   (4)   For the purposes of subsection (3)(g), “mind and management” means —

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      (a)     the directors have the necessary knowledge and expertise to discharge the duties of the board of directors in relation to the relevant sector;

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      (b)     the meetings of the board of directors are conducted in Saint Lucia at a frequency that is appropriate to the decision-making required for the relevant sector;

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      (c)     a quorum of the board of directors is —

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         (i)     resident in Saint Lucia, or

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         (ii)     present at the meetings of the board held in Saint Lucia;

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      (d)     the minutes of the meetings of the board of directors conducted in Saint Lucia record the making of strategic decisions at meetings;

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      (e)     the minutes of all board meetings and the records are kept in Saint Lucia;

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      (f)     the premises, whether leased, rented or owned, in Saint Lucia are adequate for the management of the relevant sector; and

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      (g)     where the board of directors has decided to outsource the core-income generating activities in relation to the relevant sector, the board has maintained adequate supervision of those core-income generating activities.

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   (5)   A director or senior officer of the relevant entity shall certify the contents of the economic substance return made under this section.