The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) Explained: What Gets Reported

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is the global system that lets tax authorities receive information about their residents' financial accounts abroad. Banks and other financial institutions identify customers who are tax resident in another participating country, report their account details to the local tax authority, and that authority passes the data on once a year.

For anyone who lives internationally, the CRS is the reason a bank asks for a tax identification number, a self-certification form and sometimes a tax residency certificate. It is also the reason the old idea of an unknown offshore account no longer works in most of the world. The CRS does not create new taxes, but it gives tax authorities the data to check whether existing taxes have been paid.

This guide explains where the CRS came from, what is reported, how institutions decide where you are resident, what changed under the 2023 update that took effect in 2026, and what all of this means for people who move between countries.

Key takeaways

• The CRS was developed by the OECD at the request of the G20 and now involves more than 100 jurisdictions that exchange financial account information automatically.
• Banks report your name, address, tax residence, tax identification number, account balance and income such as interest and dividends to their tax authority, which shares it with your country of residence.
• Your tax residence for CRS purposes is first based on your own self-certification, which the bank must check against the other information it holds.
• An updated version of the standard, often called CRS 2.0, applies from January 1, 2026 in jurisdictions that adopted it, with first exchanges in 2027.
• The United States does not take part in the CRS. It runs its own system, FATCA.

Where the CRS came from

The CRS grew out of a push by the G20 for a single global standard for exchanging financial account data. The OECD designed it in 2014, borrowing heavily from the US FATCA model so that financial institutions could reuse their systems. According to HMRC's international exchange of information manual, a first group of jurisdictions signed a multilateral competent authority agreement in October 2014 and began exchanging data in 2017, with a second group following in 2018. More than 100 jurisdictions now exchange information under the standard.

Inside the EU, the CRS is applied through the Directive on Administrative Cooperation, so EU member states exchange the same data with each other under EU law as well as with other CRS partners.

How CRS reporting works, step by step

The process repeats every year and has four stages.

1. Identification. When you open an account, the financial institution asks you to self-certify where you are tax resident and to give a tax identification number (TIN) for each country. For older accounts, it searches its records for signs of foreign residence.
2. Reporting. If you are resident in another participating jurisdiction, the institution reports your account to its own tax authority, usually in the first half of the following year.
3. Exchange. The tax authority sends the data to the tax authority of each country where you are resident, using a secure channel under the competent authority agreement.
4. Use. The receiving authority matches the data with tax returns and other records. It may send letters, open audits or simply use the data for risk analysis.

Reporting is not a finding that anyone did something wrong. Most CRS data concerns ordinary accounts that are fully declared.

What information is reported

For each reportable account, the institution reports a standard set of data. HMRC's guidance on reportable information lists the main items.

The balance is reported as at year end. The CRS does not send transaction-by-transaction data, but the annual figures are enough for a tax authority to spot accounts that do not appear in a tax return.

Which institutions and accounts are covered

The CRS applies to "financial institutions," a term that covers more than banks:

• Depository institutions, such as banks and many building societies.
• Custodial institutions, such as brokers and custodians that hold securities for clients.
• Investment entities, including many funds and certain managed companies and trusts.
• Specified insurance companies that issue cash value insurance or annuity contracts.

Covered accounts include deposit accounts, custodial accounts, equity and debt interests in investment entities, and certain insurance and annuity products. Some low-risk products, such as many pension accounts, are excluded.

Entities are treated differently from individuals. If an account belongs to a company or trust that is "passive," meaning it mainly earns investment income, the institution looks through to the people who control it and reports them too. This is why personal holding companies, trusts and foundations do not take an account outside the CRS. For trusts, the people reported can include settlors, trustees, protectors and beneficiaries.

How banks decide where you are tax resident

The institution starts with your self-certification. For new accounts, the CRS requires a self-certification at account opening, and the institution must confirm that it is reasonable given everything else it knows, such as your address and the documents you provided.

For older accounts opened before the CRS started, institutions searched their records for "indicia" of foreign residence, such as a foreign address, a foreign phone number or standing instructions to pay money to an account abroad. If indicia point to a country, the account may be reported there unless the customer provides a self-certification and evidence showing otherwise.

Three points matter for internationally mobile people:

• Multiple residences mean multiple reports. If you self-certify residence in two countries, the account is reported to both.
• A bank cannot make you tax resident. Tax residence is set by each country's domestic law and tax treaties. The CRS only records what the institution can reasonably conclude. Our guide to tax residency ties explains how countries actually decide.
• "No tax residence" is hard to process. A person who claims to be resident nowhere often ends up being reported to the country of their address, or faces closure. The perpetual traveler idea rarely works in a CRS world for this reason.

Documents such as a tax residency certificate can support a self-certification. People who hold residence under a lump-sum regime, for example Honduras tax residency through Próspera, may list that country on a self-certification. The institution still makes its own assessment, and whether a person remains taxable in a former country depends on that country's rules.

CRS 2.0: the changes that apply from 2026

In 2023, the OECD published an update to the CRS together with the new Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. HMRC describes the package as "CRS2.0" and notes that the UK put it into law through the International Tax Compliance (Amendment) Regulations 2025, effective January 1, 2026, with first reporting in 2027. In the EU, the same changes are implemented through DAC8.

The main changes are:

• New products in scope. Certain electronic money products and central bank digital currencies are treated as depository accounts, and indirect holdings of crypto-assets through derivatives and investment vehicles are captured.
• More detail in each report. Institutions report whether an account is new or preexisting, whether it is a joint account and how many holders it has, and the role of each controlling person or equity interest holder.
• Self-certification status. According to HMRC's guidance on self-certification validity, from the 2026 calendar year onward institutions report whether a valid self-certification was obtained for each account holder and controlling person.
• Stronger TIN rules. For new accounts, the self-certification must include a TIN for each reportable jurisdiction that issues one.

The update makes it easier for tax authorities to judge how reliable each piece of data is. An account reported with "no valid self-certification" is likely to attract more attention than one backed by a complete, consistent file.

The US gap and FATCA

The United States did not sign up to the CRS. It relies on FATCA, which requires foreign financial institutions to report accounts held by US persons to the IRS, often through agreements with other governments. FATCA is largely one-directional: the US receives far more data than it sends.

For Americans abroad, this means banks around the world ask about US citizenship and US tax status, and many report US customers' accounts. Our guide to FBAR and FATCA covers the separate filing duties that apply to US persons.

Golden visas, CBI and the CRS

The OECD has warned that residence and citizenship by investment programs can be misused to hide behind a new tax residence on paper. In October 2018 it published an analysis of more than 100 such programs, identifying those it considered potentially high risk for CRS purposes, and guidance for institutions on how to treat self-certifications based on them. In practice, banks may ask more questions when a customer claims tax residence in a country where they hold an investment-based permit but spend little time.

A second passport or a residence card is not the same as tax residence. Banks generally look for evidence that the person meets the tax residence rules of the country they name.

What the CRS means for people who move

The CRS does not change how much tax anyone owes. It changes how visible accounts are. For a mobile person, a few practical points follow:

• Each time you change tax residence, your banks will usually ask for a new self-certification.
• Data about the year you moved may go to both your old and your new country.
• Inconsistent answers to different banks create a record that tax authorities can compare.
• Accounts in countries that do not exchange under the CRS still fall under other rules, including FATCA and the reporting duties of your own country of residence.

Frequently asked questions

Which countries do not participate in the CRS?

The United States is the best-known non-participant, because it uses FATCA instead. A small number of other jurisdictions have not committed or have not started exchanging. Participation changes over time, so the current OECD list is the reliable reference.

Does the CRS report my transactions?

No. The CRS reports year-end balances and annual totals of interest, dividends, other income and sales proceeds. It does not send individual transactions, although a tax authority can request more information through other channels.

Is crypto covered by the CRS?

Crypto held directly on exchanges is mainly covered by the separate Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. Since the 2026 update, the CRS also captures some indirect crypto exposure, such as crypto derivatives and investment vehicles that hold crypto-assets.

What happens if I refuse to give a self-certification?

For a new account, the institution generally cannot open it without a valid self-certification. For an existing account, it may report based on the indicia it holds, restrict the account or close it.

Does a company account avoid CRS reporting?

Not in general. If the company is a passive entity, the institution looks through it and reports the individuals who control it, so holding money through a company does not take it outside the CRS.

Important: This article is general information, not tax, legal or financial advice. Rules change often and depend on your personal circumstances. Speak with a qualified professional in each relevant country before you act.