IEIM400015 | Background: Status of Guidance

The International Tax Compliance Regulations require Financial Institutions to carry out the due diligence and reporting obligations set out in the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), including the commentary on the CRS, and the agreement reached between the United Kingdom and the United States to improve international tax compliance and to implement FATCA.

If Financial Institutions have doubts about how any element of the CRS applies their first point of reference should be to the CRS Commentaries published by the OECD. The UK Guidance is secondary to this and assists with using the Commentaries by summarising and bringing together some of the main issues and to deal with any UK specific areas where the CRS allows for a degree of optionality as well as highlighting differences in approach between CRS and FATCA reporting regimes.

Additional guidance can be found on the OECD Automatic Exchange Portal, including the CRS Implementation Handbook, which is a practical guide for government officials and financial institutions, and a list of CRS-related Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).