What is common reporting standard?
Answered 17 March 2026
I now have sufficient information to provide a comprehensive answer.
What is the Common Reporting Standard (CRS)?
HMRC Guidance / Practice
The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is an international framework for the automatic exchange of financial account information, developed by the OECD at the request of the G20 nations.
Purpose and Background
The CRS aims to improve tax transparency and combat tax evasion by ensuring that tax authorities receive details of financial accounts held by their residents in other countries. The UK, in return, supplies similar information to other jurisdictions about accounts held by their tax residents with UK Financial Institutions.
How it works
- The CRS requires Financial Institutions to carry out due diligence on their account holders, identify those who are tax resident in other participating jurisdictions, and report that information to HMRC for onward transmission to those jurisdictions.
- Under the CRS regime, all entities are classified as either Financial Institutions or Non-Financial Entities. Financial Institutions have due diligence and reporting obligations; Non-Financial Entities do not.
- Certain Financial Institutions are designated as Non-Reporting Financial Institutions and are excluded from these obligations.
UK Legal Framework
The obligations on UK Financial Institutions are set out in The International Tax Compliance Regulations 2015 (as amended). In 2023, the OECD updated the CRS (referred to as "CRS2.0") to account for developments in financial markets, with the UK committing to implement these amendments in time for first reporting in 2027.
Relationship to FATCA
The CRS draws heavily on the approach taken to implementing FATCA (the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act), though there are distinct differences due to the multilateral nature of the CRS versus the bilateral US-specific nature of FATCA.
Global Reach
Over 100 jurisdictions now exchange information on financial accounts under the CRS framework. The first exchanges began in 2017.
Relationship to Cryptoassets
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and specified electronic money products (SEMPs) fall under the CRS rather than the separate Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF).
Citation sources
Globalisation of the financial sector now makes it much easier for individuals and entities to hold money and assets outside of their jurisdiction of tax residence. While the great majority comply with their tax obligations there are some who will use the availability of offshore financial structures to evade tax. Automatic exchange of financial account information is about improving transparency in the fight against tax evasion and in so doing protecting the integrity of the tax systems of the
The definitions and terminology of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) regime do not easily translate to the structures, processes and terminology used by charities. This guidance brings together material from the manual that is relevant to charities, and puts it into terminology that is similar to that used by the sector. It is not intended to replace the full guidance or override any part of it. These sections should be read in conjunction with the full guidance, and charities and their advise
Both of the automatic exchange of information regimes exclude certain Financial Institutions from being Reporting Financial Institutions. Such Financial Institutions are not required to identify, collect or report information about Reportable Persons. These institutions are identified in Annex II of the IGA with the USA for FATCA purposes. For the CRS the only Non-Reporting Financial Institutions are those specifically defined in Section VIII Paragraph B of the Standard and, from 1 January 2026,
The International Tax Compliance Regulations require Financial Institutions to carry out the due diligence and reporting obligations set out in the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), including the commentary on the CRS, and the agreement reached between the United Kingdom and the United States to improve international tax compliance and to implement FATCA. If Financial Institutions have doubts about how any element of the CRS applies their first point of reference should be to the CRS Commentaries
The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is the result of the drive by the G20 nations to develop a global standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information. Developed by the OECD, the CRS aims to maximise efficiency and reduce costs for Financial Institutions by drawing heavily on the approach taken to implementing FATCA. There are some distinct differences between the two systems, driven to a large extent by the multilateral nature of the CRS compared to FATCA and the US specific
The term ‘cryptoasset’ is very broad and encompasses many types of assets. For the purposes of the rules, only relevant cryptoassets are subject to due diligence and reporting by Reporting Cryptoasset Service Providers (RCASPs). Cryptoasset The definition is functional and includes any digital representation of value that relies on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger or similar technology to validate and secure transactions. Examples of cryptoassets include security tokens, exchange