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 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.
Legal framework
The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors approved a specific series of measures for the new global standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information on tax matters in September 2014.
The measures aim at a more transparent procedure of tax collection and also the diminishing of fraud and cross-border tax evasion by appropriately removing situations in which unrecorded incomes might exist.
Implementation of framework
The 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 this information to the competent Romanian tax authority every year.
Information reported to the tax authority
The Romanian tax authority exchanges the information collected from the financial institutions with the tax authority where the clients are/may be tax residents. This information includes:
- Full name / Corporate name
- Address
- Tax residency jurisdiction and tax identification number (TIN)
- Account details and balance
- Investment income (including interest, dividends, capital gains, etc.)
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/
- The website of the Romanian tax authority: Link-uri utile (anaf.ro)
- Your accountant.
Implementation of the CRS
The CRS applies in Europe by virtue of the European Directive of Administrative Cooperation (DAC2) and in the OECD member countries that have signed the multilateral agreement on automatic exchange of financial account information.
Financial institutions must collect information regarding the tax residency of their customers in compliance with:
- The Romanian Fiscal Procedure Code (Law 207/2015) enforced as of 01.01.2016, transposing also the provisions of Directive 2014/107 /EU, as subsequently amended through Government Emergency Ordinance 102/2022 and Government Ordinance 16/2023 to update the legislative framework for reporting and tax due diligence for CRS purposes.
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 Viva Payment legal obligation, in accordance with the applicable legal framework on the CRS. For information on the processing of your personal data by Viva Payment in accordance with the EU Regulation 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) you can refer to Viva Payment’s Privacy Policy.