Refinements to CRS for reportable jurisdictions and financial accounts

Refinements to CRS for reportable jurisdictions and financial accounts

Tue 05 May 2020

SI 2020/438 amends various aspects of the statutory instrument covering FATCA and Common Reporting Standards (CRS) compliance (SI 2015/878) from a UK perspective.  It comes into force on 13 May, a few days before the 31 May 2020 reporting deadline for the calendar year ended 31 December 2019.

2020 Reportable jurisdictions for 2019 financial accounts

HMRC has updated its guidance at IEIM402340 to give the final list of CRS Reportable Jurisdictions for 2020.  The changes are to remove Albania, Oman and Peru as Reportable Jurisdictions.  As in previous years HMRC recognises that it may not be possible for FIs (financial institutions) to remove data from returns at this stage, so it will follow its usual practice in these circumstances and accept returns that include data for these jurisdictions. 

Reduction in range of excluded accounts

Three other guidance pages have also been amended to reflect the removal of four types of Excluded Account from Schedule 2 to the International Tax Compliance Regulations; these are Non-registered pension arrangements, and Premium Bonds, Fixed Interest Savings Certificates and Index Linked Savings Certificates issued by NS&I.

The relevant pages are: IEIM401740, IEIM401760; IEIM401820

Covid-19 and FATCA/CRS reporting deadlines

Finally, HMRC has received representations about the impact of covid-19 on reporting obligations under CRS and FATCA, which it is carefully considering. HMRC “…understands the concerns raised and will provide an update on any developments as soon as possible”.

For further advice on FATCA or CRS matters, please get in touch with a member of the Mazars international tax team.