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 holders of Financial institutions for more information.

On this page:

What's New

Date What's new 
21 November 2024IRAS has published IRAS CRS TIN Guide (First Edition) to facilitate Reporting SGFIs in reviewing TIN information of their account holders. This guide contains the TIN and TIN equivalent information for the reportable jurisdictions that Reporting SGFIs must report on.
18 October 2024OECD Amended Common Reporting Standard XML Schema - OECD CRS Schema version 3.0, updated for the new requirements under the Amended CRS, has been published. From 2027, all CRS returns in XML format, including past returns, must be formatted and submitted using the CRS XML Schema Version 3.0.
18 October 2024IRAS has introduced a new function within the “View CRS/FATCA Return Status” Digital Service in myTax Portal to allow RSGFIs to download the list of error details for their submitted return that was accepted with error or rejected by IRAS. Please refer to the AEOI Digital Services webpage and the View CRS/FATCA Return Status Digital Service User Guide (PDF, 630KB) for more details.
18 October 2024

Updated CRS Fillable PDF Form
Reporting SGFIs that intend to submit their CRS returns using Fillable PDF forms must use the CRS Fillable PDF Form Version 2.0 (PDF, 3,454KB) with effect from 16 Oct 2024.

8 October 2024IRAS CRS File and Record Level Validations (PDF, 234 KB) document updated: Updated resolution for error codes 60005 and 60006
25 July 2024IRAS 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 2024The 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.
5 February 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 2024List 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 Circumstances (“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:

  • Clarified the definition of “Participating Jurisdiction” and “Reportable Jurisdiction” under the Glossary (Section 3.1) and paragraph 4.4.1 to align with the CRS.
  • Removed the original paragraph 4.4.2 on the transitional approach as the transitional approach for Participating Jurisdictions has expired.
  • Clarified the requirements for the collection of valid self-certifications, in line with OECD’s CRS-related FAQs in paragraph 10.5.8.
  • Updated the names of the respective Singapore’s Acts of Parliament.

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 FATCA reporting 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

  1. the financial account information to be exchanged between jurisdictions;
  2. the FIs required to report such information to their tax authorities;
  3. the different types of accounts and taxpayers covered; and
  4. 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:

 
CRS TIN GUIDE

Under the CRS, Reporting SGFIs are required to report the TIN information of their account holders, including TIN equivalents, where such information is available. 

  • IRAS CRS TIN Guide (First Edition) (XLXS, 36KB) - The purpose of this guide is to facilitate Reporting SGFIs in reviewing TIN information of their account holders. This guide contains the TIN and TIN equivalent information for the reportable jurisdictions that Reporting SGFIs must report on.

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

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.

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.

Multilateral CAA for CRS (“CRS MCAA”)

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

  1. both jurisdictions are signatories to the CRS MCAA;
  2. have filed the relevant notifications under Section 7 of the CRS MCAA; and
  3. 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.

Bilateral CAAs on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information

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  5 June 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 May 2019
(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.