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CRS overview

Commercial Banking – Canada

To help combat tax evasion and protect the integrity of tax systems, governments around the world are introducing a new information-gathering and reporting requirement for financial institutions. This is known as the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), as coordinated by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and we’d like to help you understand what it means for you.

Under Canadian legislation implementing the CRS, we are required to determine where account holders are “tax resident”. We will base this on information that we have already, or we may ask you for additional details.

If you are tax resident outside Canada or the U.S., we may be required to provide account related information to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), including your name, tax residency, account balance and payments to the account. The CRA may share that information with the tax authority of the country (or countries) where you are tax resident.

What do you need to do?

Effective July 1, 2017, to confirm your status under the CRS, you may be asked to complete the appropriate self-certification form and return it to your relationship manager. There are two types of self-certification forms for the CRS.

If you are unsure about any of these terms and if they apply to you, please refer to the Glossary.

Please note that you may receive more than one request for information, if you have multiple relationships with us.

Any questions?

If you have any specific questions regarding tax residency or the CRS, please contact a professional tax adviser, as we are unable to provide tax advice. You may also visit the Canada Revenue Agency website for more information.

Page last updated September 2018