European Union: Are You Ready For CRS? EMEA Deadline Update

More than 100 countries have committed with the Common Reporting Standard, making automatic exchange of information between countries a reality and giving a huge boost to transparent business practices across the globe.

This is the third article from a series on CRS deadlines, the first two cover some of the main deadlines companies should meet to comply with the CRS requirements in the Americas and Asia Pacific.

Many of EMEA countries are at the forefront on the adoption of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) with reporting deadlines already in 2017. TMF Group experts prepared an overview of reporting deadlines in those EMEA countries where we have offices. 

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS), approved by the OECD Council on 15 July 2014, sets the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters, giving legal basis for the exchange of financial data among participating jurisdictions and requires financial institutions to perform specific due diligence procedures to collect and transmit specific data on their account holders and controlling persons.

The deadlines

Most countries had their CRS deadlines set for earlier in the year, therefore the reporting entities already should have submitted their reports. Ireland, Italy and Poland delayed their deadlines or have deadlines set for August, giving companies more time to submit their reports*:

Late adopters in EMEA have set reporting and first exchange of information deadlines for 2018. It is important for international companies to actively monitor the changes, as deadlines and local implementation of CRS varies from country to country. Some European countries have not yet published final guidelines for the CRS reporting and deadlines.

In many countries, the guidelines are being published in local language - making it challenging for international companies to streamline their CRS reporting across countries.

Counting on a local expert that understands the local language, as well as the main international ones, is up to date with the changing requirements and can provide accurate and timely reporting can be of benefit for international companies.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.