Information for clients regarding International Tax Information Exchange
​OECD Common Reporting Standard
To encourage tax transparency and prevent international tax evasion, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”), in co-operation with the G20 countries and the European Union, has developed a new standard of international tax information exchange known as the “Common Reporting Standard” or “CRS”. The Common Reporting Standard became effective in respect of certain CRS jurisdictions on 1 January 2016.
CRS is similar to the FATCA reporting program already in place for US persons. At a high level, CRS requires financial institutions in participating jurisdictions to identify and report to their home tax authorities details of accounts held by their customers resident in other participating jurisdictions. Tax authorities in participating jurisdictions will exchange this information on an annual basis with other tax authorities in participating CRS jurisdictions where account holders are resident.
At the date of this notice, nearly 100 jurisdictions have committed to implementing the CRS, and more are expected to follow. [See attached media]
CRS became effective in at least 53 other countries as of January 2016, with the first reporting expected to be in September 2017. It is our understanding that the initial reporting in 2017 will apply to all new accounts opened after 1 January 2016, and to high-value (>$1 million value) pre-existing customers. Reporting in the following year (2018) will apply to all customers (for 2017 account information).
CRS is expected to become effective in Barbados (and at least 40 other countries) as of January 2017.
Information exchanged will include the customers’ name, address, and tax identification number, and information about financial accounts, such as account value, income received and gross proceeds.
In order to comply with CRS, all financial institutions (e.g. banks, brokerage firms, mutual funds and insurance companies) in participating jurisdictions must perform due diligence on their customers, and obtain self-certifications regarding their customers’ tax residency.
In the coming months we may contact you to request additional information which is necessary for CRS purposes, in order to comply with OI's Financial’s legal obligations.
If you have any questions regarding this notice, please contact our team. However, please note that this notice does not and is not intended to constitute tax advice, and neither OurInterest nor its officers or employees are authorized or qualified to provide tax advice to customers.
More information is available on the OECD website.
