CRS – Common Reporting Standard

CRS was developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It is a new international standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information between tax administrations to use in fighting tax evasion and to promote voluntary compliance with tax laws.

Thus far over 100 countries (“Participating Jurisdictions”), including Canada, have committed to implementing CRS. The effective date for CRS to come into effect in Canada is July 1, 2017.

Generally, the CRS requires financial institutions in each CRS participating jurisdiction to request the tax residency status of their customers and provide information to their local tax authority about any accounts held by tax residents of other countries.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Canada) is committed to complying with CRS and we will collect and report certain information about Account Holder’s tax residency. If the Account Holder’s tax residence is located in participation jurisdiction outside of Canada, we are legally required to pass on the information with respect to these financial accounts to Canada Revenue Agency, and they may exchange this information with tax authorities of another jurisdiction(s) pursuant to the intergovernmental agreements to exchange financial account information.

For more information on CRS, please visit the following web pages:

http://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/common-reporting-standard/

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/bdgt/2016/qa08-eng.html

http://www.cba.ca/understanding-the-common-reporting-standard

If you have any questions about CRS and your tax residency, you are advised to speak with your tax consultants. Our bank employees cannot provide any legal or tax advice to our customers.