Common Reporting Standard (CRS) legislation will take effect on 1 January 2016. Under this legislation, countries will exchange tax information about account holders who hold balances with financial institutions in other jurisdictions. The legislation is intended to prevent international tax evasion.
As of 2017, the tax authorities of the countries that have agreed to the CRS will be able to exchange certain tax details about their account holders relating to 2016. They will receive this information from their financial institutions, in the same way that the Dutch tax authorities receive such information from your bank. This will give the governments of the CRS countries a better overview of the balances held in offshore accounts. A list of the CRS countries is available on the OECD website.
If you are affected by CRS, ABN AMRO will be required to ask which country you are a resident of for tax purposes. This is the country where you pay taxes and of which you are therefore a resident for tax purposes, or a ‘tax resident’. In general, you are only a tax resident of a single country and this is the country where you live, work or spend the most time.
CRS will affect you if:
you open an account with ABN AMRO;
you apply for an ABN AMRO credit card - you will receive a letter from us asking of which country you are a tax resident;
you inform us of a change of address because you are moving abroad - you will need to let us know the tax number of that country (the country's tax authorities can tell you this).
If your bank asks you to send your CRS details, please complete the CRS form on Internet Banking or the paper version that your bank has sent you. If you are a tax resident of multiple countries, you will need to specify this on the form.
Some of the factors that determine tax residence are listed below.
You have a residential address in the country and spend the most time there.
You have received a tax number from the tax authorities of the country.
Your partner and children also live in the country.
Your children attend school in the country.
You are insured in the country.
You have a GP in the country.
You are a member of one or more associations in the country.
Different countries have different rules to determine tax residency. For instance, the United States' regulations state that all US nationals must pay taxes in the United States. Most European countries provide their tax residents with a tax number. We advise you to determine in which country or countries you are tax resident and to ensure that you know your tax identification number used in that country. If you have any questions, please contact the tax authorities of the country in question or a tax adviser.
