CRS

FAQs

Frequently asked questions regarding CRS in the Cayman Islands.

Notifications

 

How do I submit a Notification to the TIA?

Notifications are submitted via the DITC Portal.

Do I have to submit a Notification each year?

No, this is a one-off process.

How do I edit my Notification?

The Principal Point of Contact (PPoC) can do this via the DITC Portal.

I submitted a Notification but did not receive a confirmation.

If you are a current user, log in to the DITC Portal to determine whether you have been granted access. If not, contact the DITC at CaymanAEOIPortal@gov.ky

Reporting

 

How do I submit Reporting to the TIA?

Reporting is submitted via the DITC Portal. If you are a new user, you will need to submit a Notification to register the Financial Institution.

When can I submit my Reporting?

When the DITC Portal is open you can submit reporting for all available years listed on the XML Upload page.

Can I submit test returns?

Testing is not permitted within the DITC Portal.

I have received an error from a partner jurisdiction – what do I do?

Review the error issued by the partner jurisdiction on the DITC Portal. You can also contact the DITC regarding a specific error once you are logged in.

Deactivations

When can I deactivate an FI?

At this time we are not accepting deactivation requests via the DITC Portal. The deactivation functionality will be made available in Q4 of 2021.

I want to resign as a PPoC/AP but I don’t know who the new users should be – what do I do?

You should first ascertain who the new users should be by:

  1. contacting the Directors; and/or
  2. contacting the registered office.

If no response is received, email the DITC at CaymanAEOIPortal@gov.ky and include the following information:

  • your reason for resigning;
  • the steps you have taken to find the new users, and;
  • contact details for the Directors you hold

Compliance Form

What happens if the FI fails to submit the CRS Compliance Form by the deadline?

The FI would be in breach of Part 2 of the CRS Regulations if it fails to submit the CRS Compliance Form by the deadline and an administrative penalty will be automatically issued by the Authority.

What happens if the FI is not able to obtain the required information to complete section 2 of the CRS Compliance Form?

Section 2 of the CRS Compliance Form provides an option to confirm that the existence, number or value of Non-Reportable Accounts is unknown. Please note where this option is selected, it is likely the FI will be subject to follow up from the Authority.

Are you required to report undocumented accounts in Question 4.6?

Question 4.6 does not apply to undocumented accounts.

How do you answer question 3.1, if the FI does not have a calendar year end?

Where the FI does not have a calendar year end, the question on audited financial statements applies to the financial year ending in the calendar year on which you are reporting (i.e. Financial Year end is July, when completing the CRS Compliance Form for 2019, the question is – have the Financial Statements for the year ending July 2019 been subject to an audit).

Is the reference to non-reportable accounts in section 2 a reference to activity of any account over the year or just the year end?

When completing section 2, the same rules as outlined in the CRS Regulations apply. The balance as at the end of the relevant reporting period should be reported.

Is there guidance on the CRS Compliance Form?

Refer to section 5.F. of the CRS Guidelines for guidance on the form, refer to the DITC Portal User Guide for technical assistance with submitting the Form via the Portal.

Do Trustee Documented Trusts need to complete the CRS Compliance Form?

Yes, TDT’s are required to complete the CRS Compliance Form.

Do all FIs need to complete the CRS Compliance Form?

All FIs with reporting obligations are required to complete the CRS Compliance Form on an annual basis.

What is the legal basis that permits the DITC to collect this information?

The Tax Information Authority (International Tax Compliance) (Common Reporting Standard) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020 amendment of Regulation 9(1) provides the legal basis for the Authority to collect the CRS Compliance Form annually.

Who can submit the CRS Compliance Form?

The PPoC or any Secondary Users assigned to the FI will be the only persons able to submit the CRS Compliance Form via the DITC Portal.

Can you submit account information in any currency?

Section 2 provides the option to choose any currency. The Authority recommends that the currency used to complete the CRS Compliance Form is the same as that used in the CRS Report. Where multiple currencies are used in the CRS Report, FIs should use the currency most frequently used. It is not currently anticipated that the CRS Compliance Form will accommodate multiple currencies.

Is there a way to upload the CRS Compliance Form in bulk?

Yes, the CRS Compliance Form can be submitted using a bulk upload CSV file. For an overview of all sections and data points refer to the CRS Guidelines, for technical assistance please refer to our User Guide.

How do I submit the CRS Compliance Form?

The CRS Compliance Form is submitted via the DITC Portal by the PPoC or a Secondary User of the FI.

What is the deadline to submit the CRS Compliance Form?

The annual deadline for the CRS Compliance Form is 15 September.

How do I report a Pre-existing Entity Account that is below the threshold for reporting?

Such accounts would not be considered Non-Reportable accounts for the purposes of the CRS Compliance Form. Please note that these accounts should be included in the total value of the FI’s Financial Accounts for the reporting period (question 2.1).

How should I report details of a Financial Account where the Account Holder and all Controlling Persons are not Reportable Jurisdiction Persons and are in different jurisdictions, for example US and The Bahamas?

This account should be treated as one Financial Account for the purpose of answering question 2.1. Where an account is a Non-Reportable account for more than one reason, it should be reported once for each reason in the Compliance Form. For example, where the Account Holder and all Controlling Persons are either resident in The Bahamas or a US Person (i.e. not qualifying as Reportable Jurisdiction Persons), the response to question 2.5 in the Compliance Form must be “Both”, and the account must be reported once under both question 2.5.1 and 2.5.2.

How should I report a joint account?

A joint account should be treated as one Financial Account for the purpose of answering question 2.1. Only if the joint account is a Non-Reportable account in relation to all joint Account Holders, it should be treated as a Non-Reportable Account. If the joint account is a Non-Reportable account for more than one reason, it should be reported once for each reason in the Compliance Form. For example, where a joint account has two Account Holders, one resident in the British Virgin Islands and one being a US Person (both not qualifying as Reportable Jurisdiction Persons), the response to question 2.5 in the Compliance Form must be “Both”, and the joint account must be reported both under question 2.5.1 and 2.5.2.

I’ve tried to submit my CRS Compliance Form in bulk, but I get the error “Form contains invalid data. Please correct first.”

Please ensure you have read and agreed with the declaration first before clicking Submit.

When trying to submit the CRS Compliance Form in bulk I get an error saying I don’t have permission to file, but I’m the PPoC/Secondary User.

Please troubleshoot the following: Check that the FI has CRS reporting obligations and/or if you have copied and pasted the FI numbers into the CSV, instead type them into the cell.

When trying to submit the CRS Compliance Form in bulk it says my submission failed: “CRS – Compliance Form (bulk upload by CSV) submission Failed”, but I cannot see any error information.

Scroll to the bottom of the screen. Where there is an error click the red exclamation mark and the error will be shown for each FI.

I have received a lot of errors on my CRS Compliance Form bulk upload and I don’t know how to fix them all.

Fix the first error listed for each FI and then re-upload the file – this may automatically resolve some/all of the other errors listed.

For Question 3.1, does the FI have audited financial statements, can the FI select yes if they are part of consolidated audited financial statements?

Yes.

If an account holder is reportable for both CRS and FATCA (US entity with Brazilian CPs) would you expect them to be included in both “reportable” and “non-reportable U.S.” categories? Or would you expect this to be considered “reportable”?

This is a reportable account for CRS (i.e. do not include in Non-Reportable).

Where an investor is not a Reportable Person and is not in a Reportable Jurisdiction (for example an FI resident in Cayman Islands), which box in question 2.3 should it be disclosed in?

This should be disclosed as a Financial Account where the Account Holder and all controlling persons are not Reportable Jurisdiction Persons.

When reporting the value of Non-Reportable accounts, should redeemed accounts be included?

No, the balance as at the end of the relevant reporting period should be reported.

Does the question at 2.1 on total value of the FI’s Financial Accounts mean the value of all the assets which are held by the Cayman Islands Financial Institution?

No, this question is asking about the total value of the FI’s financial accounts, Financial Account is as defined in the CRS Regulations. The answer should be the total value of the reportable (under CRS) and non-reportable financial accounts. Where the FI is an investment fund, this will typically be the net asset value however, where the FI is not an investment fund it is unlikely the answer to this question is the net asset value.

How should an FI, which is correctly classified as an Investment Entity, but does not carry on Relevant Financial Business (as defined under the Proceeds of Crimes Act) complete Section 3.

The DITC expects only a small number of FI’s to meet this requirement. In such circumstances, the FI should answer section 3 as follows:

  1.    3.2 select “other”
  2.    3.3 Free Text Box provide an explanation as confirmation of the fact that the FI does not conduct RFB
  3.    3.4 select ‘Cayman Islands’
  4.    3.5 select ‘Yes’

Where an FI has multiple service providers for AML/KYC and the CRS Process, what should be reported in Section 3 and Section 4?

The service provider who is primarily responsible for determining whether a Financial Account is reportable or non-reportable for CRS should be reported in Section 3.

Does the calculation of the total value of an FIs Financial Accounts in question 2.1 include amounts with a negative balance?

Yes, this question requires the total value and as such, negative balances should be included when calculating the aggregate total of the FIs Financial Accounts.  For all other questions on the CRS Compliance Form, a negative balance should be reported as zero in line with the CRS Regulations.

Does the calculation of the total value of an FIs Financial Accounts in question 2.1 include the value of Excluded Accounts?

No, an Excluded Account is not a Financial Account under the CRS and should not be calculated in determining the total value of the FIs Financial Accounts.