The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has released the third edition of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) e-Tax Guide on January 12, 2024. The guide is instrumental for Singaporean Financial Institutions (SGFIs), outlining the nation’s adoption of CRS, and providing crucial guidance on compliance obligations under the CRS framework.
TAINA, a fully automated FATCA and CRS validation platform, has released a helpful guide summarising the update.
Key aspects of the CRS e-Tax Guide
The guide delves into categorising various entities under the CRS framework, including financial institutions (FIs), reporting SGFIs, non-reporting SGFIs, and non-financial entities (NFEs). It also details the classification of financial accounts that fall within the scope of CRS, those that are excluded, and the due diligence procedures that reporting SGFIs must implement to identify reportable accounts. Furthermore, it specifies the tax-related information that reporting SGFIs must disclose and the registration requirements they must fulfill.
Summary of CRS e-Tax Guide Updates
The transition from the second to the third edition of the IRAS e-Tax Guide brings several updates. These include a clarification of the terms “Participating Jurisdiction” and “Reportable Jurisdiction”, the removal of the transitional approach for participating jurisdictions, and enhanced clarifications on the collection and validation of self-certifications for new accounts. Additionally, there’s a revision of references to Singapore’s Acts of Parliament to ensure accuracy.
2024 CRS Obligations and Updates for Singapore Financial Institutions
SGFIs should be aware of key CRS compliance updates and deadlines, including the CRS registration deadline of March 31, 2024, for entities that became a reporting SGFI between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, and the CRS tax reporting deadline of May 31, 2024, for the reporting year 2023. The IRAS also released an updated list of Reportable Jurisdictions and Participating Jurisdictions on February 1, 2024, with significant changes including the addition of Kenya and Thailand, and the removal of Niue from the list.
How TAINA Can Assist
TAINA aims to mitigate common CRS compliance challenges faced by financial institutions in the Asia Pacific. The platform enhances customer onboarding and due diligence processes, ensuring high-quality data maintenance and efficiency throughout the customer lifecycle.
By automating form collection and validation, including CRS-E, CRS-I, and CRS-CP forms, TAINA not only ensures compliance with CRS and FATCA regulations but also significantly improves operational efficiency and customer experience. The TAINA platform is already being utilised by leading global financial institutions, transforming their regulatory compliance processes and achieving substantial cost savings.
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