Get (CRS-I (HK)) (CRS-I (HK))

The Common Reporting Standard (“CRS”) is a standard for the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (“AEOI”) between participating jurisdictions to enhance tax transparency and fight against cross-border tax evasion. What is the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information?

A Certificate of Resident Status is a document issued by the Hong Kong competent authority to a Hong Kong resident who requires proof of resident status for the purposes of claiming tax benefits under the Comprehensive Double Taxation Agreements / Arrangements (DTAs).

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is an internationally-agreed standard introduced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for the automatic exchange of financial information between participating countries / jurisdictions.

As of October 2022, Hong Kong SAR has activated exchange relationships for CRS purposes with 74 jurisdictions based on either a bilateral or multilateral competent authority agreement for CRS.

The Financial Institution will report the following information about you to Revenue: your name, address, Foreign TIN and the financial account number. your date of birth, and place of birth (if on record) the name and Identification Number of the Financial Institution. the account balance or value at year end.

Who is reportable? The CRS seeks to establish the tax residency of customers. Under the CRS, financial institutions are required to identify customers who appear to be tax resident outside of the country/jurisdiction where they hold their accounts and products, and report certain information to our local tax authority.

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is an information-gathering and reporting requirement for financial institutions in participating countries/jurisdictions, to help fight against tax evasion and protect the integrity of tax systems.

In response to that, the Hong Kong Government has enacted Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 3) Ordinance 2016 (“CRS Ordinance”) to implement CRS and the effective date of CRS in Hong Kong would be 1 January 2017.