CRS and automatic information exchange
CRS (Common Reporting Standard) is an OECD standard under which banks and financial firms report accounts held by foreign tax residents, and countries exchange that data.
How it works
A financial institution finds out your tax residence, usually through a form when you open an account. If you are resident in another participating country, your account details (holder, number, balance, income) go once a year to the local tax authority, which passes them to your country's tax authority. The OECD adopted the standard in 2014, the first exchanges took place in 2017, and more than 100 jurisdictions now take part.
CRS was written for bank accounts and investments, and crypto mostly fell outside it. For crypto the OECD adopted a separate framework in 2022, CARF (Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework), and the EU adopted the DAC8 directive, which applies from 1 January 2026. Many countries plan the first CARF exchanges for 2027, covering 2026 data.
In practice, your country's tax authority increasingly knows about your foreign accounts and crypto activity even if you never reported them. Which countries take part, and from which year, depends on their agreements.
You are tax resident in country A and open an account with a bank in country B. Both take part in CRS. Early the next year the bank reports to country B's tax authority that the account holds $8,000 and earned $200 in interest, and that data is sent on to country A.
A mistake is stating the wrong tax residence when signing up with an exchange or bank, hoping the data will not be shared. That is a violation and can lead to a frozen account and trouble with the tax authority. State your real residence, and if it changes, update it with every financial institution.
Questions and answers
What is CRS in simple terms?
It is an international system where banks report accounts held by foreigners and countries automatically send that data to each other.
Do crypto exchanges report to tax authorities?
Increasingly yes: a separate framework, CARF, is being introduced for crypto, and in the EU DAC8 applies from 2026. Many exchanges already report under local laws.
How do I know my tax residence?
It usually depends on where you live most of the year and where your main ties are, but countries use different rules. If unsure, ask a tax professional.
Related terms
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Updated: 2026-10-19