Tension Escalates as CRS Deadlines on the Horizon

Paul Banker, General Manager – Sovos Compliance, attended a meeting of Working Party No. 10 on Exchange of Information and Tax Compliance, as a member of the CRS Business Advocacy group that works with the OECD on the automatic exchange of information (AEOI). ‘Roles are now at stake’ in financial institutions around the world as they get to grips with the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), according to Paul Banker, General Manager – 1099, ACA, and AEOI Solutions, at Sovos Compliance. That was his key takeaway from an important OECD meeting held in Paris earlier this month. Paul attended a meeting of Working Party No. 10 on Exchange of Information and Tax Compliance, one of a number of working parties that help the OECD in its efforts to improve international tax co-operation between governments. Paul attended the meeting as a member of the CRS Business Advocacy group that works with the OECD on the automatic exchange of information (AEOI). Sixty attendees from the financial services industry attended a meeting in the morning and were joined by 120 Government officials from around the world in the afternoon. These officials are responsible for implementing CRS in their countries. With nearly 30 early adopter CRS deadlines rapidly looming, Paul described the atmosphere of both meetings as ‘tense’. He said, “roles are now at stake if CRS is not implemented right first time. It will create exposure for their organisations and themselves for their own professional careers. Governments care that this is done accurately”. Some of these deadlines represent high volume deadlines when financial institutions need to supply a significant amount of reporting data to Early Adopter jurisdictions. These include the UK and the Cayman Islands at the end of May and Jersey and the Isle of Man at the end of June. Paul has more than 24 years of experience within the tax information reporting industry and has participated in numerous forums that help shape the industry. He is a former member of IRPAC (Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee) that provides constructive guidance on matters of mutual concern to both the industry and the IRS.