Compliance
Singapore Consults On How To Put CRS Into Practice
The Common Reporting Standard regime is taking effect in a raft of jurisdictions around the world. One country preparing for the system and how it will work in practice is Singapore.
Singaporean financial authorities and the Asian jurisdiction’s government have proposed rules on how to put automatic exchange of information into force, part of moves by countries around the world to stamp out dirty money and tax evasion.
The Ministry of Finance, Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore have proposed regulations to allow Singapore to implement the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters, AEOI, also known as the Common Reporting Standard, with effect from 1 January 2017.
The CRS regime - to which the US is not a signatory yet - is designed to stamp out illicit flows of money, such as tax evasion. It is seen as sounding the death knell for practices such as Swiss bank secrecy, for example, as well as putting pressure on offshore and onshore jurisdictions to tighten up controls, improve transparency and monitor financial flows. To see an article about what CRS involves, click here.
An issue of concern has been how to ensure that appropriate information is exchanged, so as to avoid mistakes and compromising legitimate client privacy.
The regulations are needed so that the Asian city state can meet its international commitment to commence AEOI under the CRS in 2018, a statement from the MoF said yesterday.
The CRS 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 the customer due diligence procedures to be followed by institutions. More than 100 jurisdictions, including financial centres such as Dubai, Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Switzerland, have endorsed the CRS and will start to automatically swap information in either 2017 or 2018.
The Singaporean bodies invite public feedback on the draft Income Tax (International Tax Compliance Agreements) (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2016. Public consultation runs from yesterday to 29 July.