The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is an internationally agreed standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information between jurisdictions for tax purposes, to better combat tax evasion and ensure tax compliance. Singapore has committed to implement the CRS and has been exchanging financial account information with partner jurisdictions since September 2018.
If you are a Reporting Singapore Financial Institution (SGFI), you will have to register for CRS with IRAS. You are required to conduct due diligence on all Financial Accounts you maintain and report the relevant account information in a timely and accurate manner to IRAS in an annual return.
If you are an individual holding an account with a Reporting SGFI, you may be affected by CRS in several ways. You may refer to the Basic information for account holdersof Financial institutionsfor more information.
On this page:
What's New
| Date | What's new |
|---|---|
| 25 Jul 2024 | IRAS FAQs on CRS (PDF, 458KB) Update FAQ F.9: To provide clarity on how to report the account balance or value of account holders of a trust that is an Investment Entity |
| 6 May 2024 | CRS Return Filing for Reporting Year 2023 All Reporting SGFIs must submit their CRS return(s) to IRAS, setting out the required information in relation to every Reportable Account that was maintained in calendar year 2023, by 31 May 2024. Please submit your CRS return early so that you have time to resolve any unexpected issues during the submission process. Enforcement actions will be taken against Reporting SGFIs that do not submit their CRS returns on time. Please refer to the CRS Filing webpage for more information. |
| 6 May 2024 | The CRS Entity Classification Self-Review Toolkit has been updated to allow you to perform the self-review process online. The toolkit allows you to determine the CRS entity classification, and check if the entity is required to register for CRS. |
| 5February 2024 | The CRS registration deadline for an entity that became a Reporting SGFI between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023 (both dates inclusive) is 31 March 2024. Such Reporting SGFIs must apply for CRS registration by 31 March 2024. For more information, please refer to CRS Registration section. |
| 1 February 2024 | List of Reportable Jurisdictions(PDF, 202KB) for 2024 CRS reporting published: Reporting SGFIs are to submit 2023 CRS information by 31 May 2024. |
| 1 February 2024 | List of Participating Jurisdictions(PDF, 174KB) updated: the updated list will take effect from 2 February 2024. Kenya and Thailand have been added to the List of Participating Jurisdictions. Niue have been removed from the List of Participating Jurisdictions. Following the removal, a Change in Circ*mstances (“CIC”) would be triggered for Entity Account Holders that are Investment Entities where their tax residency is in such jurisdictions. As such, the Reporting SGFI cannot rely on the original self-certification and must obtain a new valid self-certification with details of the Controlling Person(s). |
| 12 January 2024 | Third Edition of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) e-Tax Guide (PDF, 930KB) published. Key amendments are:
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You may refer to past updates at CRS Update History.
CRS Overview
The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is an internationally agreed standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information between jurisdictions for tax purposes. The CRS is intended to detect and deter tax evasion by tax residents of jurisdictions through the use of offshore banks and other Financial Accounts.
The CRS builds on the FATCAreporting regime to maximise efficiency and reduce costs for implementing jurisdictions and their FIs. More than 100 jurisdictions, including major financial centres such as Dubai, Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Switzerland, have endorsed the CRS and have commenced AEOI in either 2017 or 2018.
The CRS sets out
- the financial account information to be exchanged between jurisdictions;
- the FIs required to report such information to their tax authorities;
- the different types of accounts and taxpayers covered; and
- the customer due diligence procedures to be followed by FIs.
In Singapore, the CRS Regulations in the Income Tax Act requires and empowers all Reporting SGFIs to put in place necessary processes and systems to collect such financial account information from their account holders. Reporting SGFIs will then need to report to IRAS the financial account information relating to tax residents of Singapore’s exchange partners. IRAS will subsequently provide the reported information to Singapore’s exchange partners.
As an SGFI, you should take note of the following key CRS obligations:
- CRS Registration– Register as a Reporting SGFI by 31 March
- CRS Filing– File annual returns or nil returns to IRAS by 31 May
- CRS Compliance– Ensure completeness and accuracy when collecting the required information on account holders
CRS Resources
CRS Domestic Legislation
The domestic legislative provisions to implement the CRS are set out at:
- Part XXB of theIncome Tax Act 1947 – International Agreements to Improve Tax Compliance. This contains the enabling provisions to implement the CRS in Singapore; and
- IncomeTax (International Tax Compliance Agreements)(Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2016 ("CRS Regulations"). This incorporates the requirements of the CRS into Singapore’s domestic legislative framework
IRAS E-Tax Guide and FAQs, OECD Guidance
Reporting SGFIs should rely closely on these materials for interpretative guidance on the due-diligence and reporting requirements of the CRS.
IRAS E-Tax Guide and FAQs
- IRAS CRS FAQs(PDB, 458KB)
- IRAS Common Reporting Standard e-Tax Guide (PDF, 930KB)
OECD guidance
Given that the CRS is the international AEOI Standard developed by the OECD, the OECD’s Commentaries on the CRS, the CRS Implementation Handbook, and OECD’s CRS-related FAQs are integral to Singapore’s CRS implementation.
- Commentaries on the CRS
- CRS Implementation Handbook (2nd edition)
- CRS-related FAQs (PDF, 374KB) (updated in May 2024)
- OECD AEOI Website and Portal
Competent Authority Agreement ("CAA")
A CAA, which can be a bilateral or multilateral agreement, establishes exchange relationships between jurisdictions, and enables the implementation of the information exchange based on existing legal instruments. It sets out the type of information to be exchanged between two jurisdictions, the time and manner of exchange as well as the confidentiality and data safeguards to be respected for the exchange of information.
Reporting SGFIs should refer to the consolidated List of Reportable Jurisdictions (PDF, 202KB) and List of Participating Jurisdictions(PDF, 174KB)that have a CAA with Singapore for information on which jurisdiction’s accounts would be reportable for the relevant CRS reporting year.
The signing of the CRS MCAA on 21 June 2017 reaffirms Singapore’s commitment to international standards on tax cooperation, and enabled Singapore to efficiently establish a wide network of exchange relationships for the automatic exchange of information based on the CRS, with more than 90 signatories to-date.
The CRS MCAA is a multilateral framework agreement based on the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters(“the Convention”). It provides a standardised and efficient mechanism to facilitate the automatic exchange of information based on the CRS. Under the CRS MCAA, a bilateral exchange relationship comes into effect only if
- both jurisdictions are signatories to the CRS MCAA;
- have filed the relevant notifications under Section 7 of the CRS MCAA; and
- have listed each other as intended exchange partner jurisdictions under the CRS MCAA.
Please refer to the OECD webpage for the full list of partners from whom Singapore will receive CRS information.
- Text of the CRS MCAA(PDF, 406KB)
Singapore is engaging in automatic exchange of information based on the CRS under the bilateral CAAs with the following jurisdictions:
| Jurisdiction | First Reporting Year1 | Date of Signing | Date of Entry into Force2 | First Submission from SGFIs by (First Exchange by) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark(PDF, 177KB) | 2017 | 13 March 2017 | 5 June 2017 | 31 May 2018 (September 2018) |
| Finland(PDF, 99KB) | 2017 | 22 November 2016 | 31 January 2017 | 31 May 2018 (September 2018) |
| Iceland(PDF, 178KB) | 2017 | 13 December 2016 | 31 January 2017 | 31 May 2018 (September 2018) |
| Ireland(PDF, 101KB) | 2017 | 20 December 2016 | 31 January 2017 | 31 May 2018 (September 2018) |
| Latvia(PDF, 178KB) | 2017 | 20 December 2016 | 27 February 2017 | 31 May 2018 (September 2018) |
| Lithuania(PDF, 175KB) | 2017 | 23 February 2017 | 5June 2017 | 31 May 2018 (September 2018) |
| Malta(PDF, 102KB) | 2017 | 15 December 2016 | 31 January 2017 | 31 May 2018 (September 2018) |
| Norway(PDF, 306KB) | 2017 | 25 October 2016 | 31 January 2017 | 31 May 2018 (September 2018) |
| South Africa(PDF, 180KB) | 2017 | 24 October 2016 | 31 January 2017 | 31 May 2018 (September 2018) |
| United Kingdom (PDF, 234KB) | 2017 | 16 September 2016 | 31 January 2017 | 31 May 2018 (September 2018) |
| Switzerland (PDF, 486KB) | 2018 | 17 July 2017 | 1 August 2019 | 31 May2019 (September 2019) |
1This refers to the first calendar year to which information of a reportable account maintained by a Reporting SGFI relates and has to be reported to IRAS for exchange with Singapore’s AEOI partners.
2A jurisdiction becomes a "Reportable Jurisdiction" after the CAA for CRS between Singapore and that jurisdiction has entered into force.