A Comparative Study On CRS And FATCA: British Virgin Islands

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is the standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information produced by the OECD, which provides for exchange of client due diligence (CDD) information between various jurisdictions. CRS is similar to the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). It is a requirement for financial institutions (Reporting FI) to report to the local authority – the International Tax Authority (ITA). The ITA will be the repository of all of the reported information and will exchange CDD information under CRS (and FATCA) with the equivalent authorities in the Jurisdictions. The first reporting under CRS is scheduled for 31 May 2017.

FATCA was implemented on 23 October 2014 under the Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Order 2014 as subsidiary legislation to the Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Act 2003 (MLAT). On 4 June 2015, the Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Order 2015 was implemented to give effect to identify