Public Consultation on Proposed Regulations on The Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters

1. Ministry of Finance ("MOF"), Monetary Authority of Singapore ("MAS") and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore ("IRAS") have proposed regulations to allow Singapore to implement the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters ("AEOI")^[1], also known as the Common Reporting Standard ("CRS") with effect from 1 January 2017. This is necessary in order for Singapore to meet carry out her international commitment to commence AEOI under the CRS in 2018.

2. The CRS is an internationally agreed standard for AEOI, endorsed by OECD and the Global Forum for Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (“GF”). The CRS sets out the financial account information to be exchanged, the financial institutions (“FIs”) required to report, the different types of accounts and taxpayers covered, as well as the customer due diligence procedures to be followed by FIs. More than 100 jurisdictions, including major financial centres such as Dubai, Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Switzerland, have endorsed the CRS and will commence AEOI in either 2017 or 2018.

3. MOF, MAS and IRAS are inviting public feedback on the draft Income Tax (International Tax Compliance Agreements) (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2016. The regulations include the proposed list of financial institutions and accounts that are excluded from the scope of reporting, as well as the due diligence and reporting requirements to implement the CRS.

4. The public consultation will be from 11 to 29 July 2016.

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^[1] AEOI refers to the regular exchange of financial account information between jurisdictions for tax purposes, with the objective of detecting and deterring tax evasion by taxpayers.