Bermuda’s Ministry of Finance has launched its Tax Information Reporting Portal, through which Financial Institutions and filers may enroll in and exchange account information pursuant to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS).
The Ministry has also published a User Guide for navigating the Portal. It provides an overview of commonly used functionalities within the Portal such as enrollments, reporting, and submissions. There are also more detailed instructions on creating CRS filings, submitting via XML upload or manual entry, nil filings (which are not mandatory in Bermuda), and submissions of undocumented account reports. Additionally, it provides a summary of CRS validation rules and instructions on how to view and correct validation issues prior to submission. A Financial Institution is permitted to register more than one Portal user.
The Frequently Asked Questions address more specific issues relative to enrollment and reporting. Significantly, enrollment is mandatory for all Bermuda CRS Reporting Financial Institutions – even if they do not have any reportable accounts. The enrollment deadline is July 14, 2017. In subsequent years, the deadline will be April 30. Filers are only required to enroll with the Portal once for the current and all future years.
The Portal will only accept filings that are separated by reportable jurisdiction – aggregated filings will not be accepted.
