Introduction
The Common Reporting Standard (CRS), developed in response to the G20 request and approved by the OECD Council on 15 July 2014, calls on jurisdictions to obtain information from their financial institutions and automatically exchange that information with other jurisdictions on an annual basis. It sets out the financial account information to be exchanged, the financial institutions required to report, the different types of accounts and taxpayers covered, as well as common due diligence procedures to be followed by financial institutions. The measures aim at tax compliance to combat unreported and untaxed income.
Legal framework
The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) applies in the European Union under the Council Directive 2014/107/EU amending Directive 2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation. In France, this Directive was namely transposed by Decree no. 2016-1683 of 5 December 2016 and related Decision of 9 December 2016. Moreover, the French Tax Administration published its guidance on CRS rules in the “Bulletin Officiel des Finances Publiques” (BOFIP) on 14 June 2017 and updated on 26 February 2020.
Implementation of framework
The French financial institutions must:
- Identify and collect relevant information regarding their customers’ tax residency status in countries that participate in the automatic exchange of information.
- Report information related to the financial accounts held directly or indirectly by such customers to the competent French tax authority every year.
Information reported to the tax authority
The French tax authority exchanges the information collected from the financial institutions with the tax authority where the clients are tax residents. This information includes:
- Full name / Corporate name
- Address
- Tax identification number (TIN)
- Account details and balance
- Payments made to the account
- CRS status (for entities)
To determine the tax regime regarding the CRS and the European Directive of Administrative Cooperation (DAC2), we ask you to fill in special self-certification forms and submit them along with the necessary supporting documents:
- Self-certification form for individuals.
- Self-certification form for entities.
- Self-certification form for controlling persons.
Additional information about the CRS
Given that we cannot offer tax advice, you can get more information on the CRS and the list of jurisdictions / countries that have signed the agreement on automatic exchange of financial account information from:
- The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - http://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/about-automatic-exchange/
- Your accountant.
Implementation of the CRS
The CRS applies in Europe by virtue of the European Directive of Administrative Cooperation (DAC2) and in the countries that have signed the OECD multilateral agreement on automatic exchange of financial account information.
French financial institutions must collect information regarding the tax residency of their customers in compliance with Decree no. 2016-1683 of 5 December 2016 and related Decision of 9 December 2016, transposition Council Directive 2014/107/EU amending Directive 2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation. Moreover, the French Tax Administration published its guidance on CRS rules in the “Bulletin Officiel des Finances Publiques” (BOFIP) on 14 June 2017 and updated on 26 February 2020.
Collection and processing of your personal data under the CRS
Any information we collect based on your self-certification documents is transmitted to the competent tax authorities for the fulfillment of Vivabank’ legal obligation, in accordance with the applicable legal framework on the CRS. For information on the processing of your personal data by Vivabank in accordance with the EU Regulation 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) you can refer to Vivabanks’ Privacy Policy.