Guest article: Christopher Jean
On 30 September the Guernsey Revenue Service issued new CRS Guidance, the first comprehensive guidance notes for CRS since December 2016.
This is the second significant local publication on CRS in the past year following the regulations that came into operation in January implementing CRS version 2. The updated guidance does not make rule changes but does consolidate information from the previous guidance with years’ worth of bulletins and compliance information notices as well as clarifying a number of widespread common misunderstandings on the application of CRS. The island’s robust CRS regulatory framework helps our island maintain our standing in the international financial community.
One of the misconceptions that has finally been dealt with is whether “cash” falls within the definition of “financial assets” (it does not). This had already been dealt with in the FAQs issued with CRS, however this is now explicitly stated so that firms can correct this where applicable. We are pleased that anyone who has already attended our FATCA & CRS courses will already know this!
Our FATCA & CRS training courses are kept up to date and always cover the latest regulations, bulletins and guidance and cover the key points to help firms remain compliant with this regime that has now been live for a decade.
Please book to join our next courses - Introduction to FATCA & CRS on 19th October and FATCA & CRS: A Practical Workshop on 23rd November - tutored by Christopher Jehan. Alternatively please contact us if you would like to consider in-house training for your team.