Common Reporting Standard (CRS)

 To facilitate automatic information sharing (Automatic Exchange Of

Information (AEOI)) about foreign financial accounts1 between authorities of
member countries
 Countries mandate their financial institutions2 to share data into a pool of
information that is disclosed to every other country

Information exchanged on reportable accounts3

 Name, address, Taxpayer Identification Number, date and place of birth
 Account number
 Name and identifying number of the reporting financial institution
 Account balance/value as of the end of the relevant financial year (or other
appropriate reporting period) or at its closure, if the account was closed
 Capital gains, depending on the type of the account (dividends, interest, gross
proceeds/redemptions, other)

Notable countries which are not part of CRS

 USA
 Armenia
 Cambodia
 Dominican Republic
 Georgia
 Guatemala
 Kazakhstan

Caveats

1. Residents of certain countries are still required to report foreign bank accounts on
their own initiative
 But this can be circumvented by declaring yourself a non-resident and moving
to a country that does not require self-reporting –with exception of US
citizens, who must renounce their citizenship to do this.

2. US citizens/resident aliens
 Still subject to a separate set of rules (FATCA4), under which foreign financial
institutions around the world are required to disclose US clients5’ accounts to
the US government/IRS and their own domestic tax authorities.
 Differences between FATCA and CRS:
o CRS was based on the FATCA (which came into force in 2014)
arrangements

1
An account maintained by a financial institution (which includes custodial institutions).
2
Includes custodial institutions, depository institutions, investment entities, and specified insurance
companies.
3
OECD allows the participating countries to determine what accounts are reportable. "The term
"reportable account" means a [Jurisdiction A] reportable account or a [Jurisdiction B] reportable
account, depending on the context, provided it has been identified as such pursuant to due diligence
procedures, consistent with the Annex, in place in [Jurisdiction A] or [Jurisdiction B]."
4
US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)
5
Both US citizens and residents, including resident aliens.
o CRS requires financial institutions in participating institutions to report
on almost all accounts held by non-residents of the reporting country –
in contrast, FATCA requires financial institutions to report foreign-
held accounts of US citizens and residents.