Guernsey: regulations on Common Reporting Standard entered into operation
On 1 December 2015, the Income Tax (Approved International Agreements) (Implementation) (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2015 came into operation.
The regulations implement the Council of Europe–OECD Mutual Assistance Treaty (1988) (as amended through 2010), under which, in order to improve international tax compliance, information will be automatically exchanged in accordance with the procedure agreed under the OECD Automatic Exchange of Information Agreement (2014) (MCAA) and under the relevant bilateral Competent Authority Agreements signed by Guernsey.
In particular, Schedule 1 of the Regulations currently refers to the following bilateral Competent Authority Agreements:
- Guernsey–Isle of Man Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Information (2015)
- Guernsey–Jersey Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Information (2015)
- British Virgin Islands–Guernsey Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Information (2015)
The regulations provide for implementing measures with respect to information to be exchanged, reporting obligations of qualifying financial institutions, notifications to reportable persons, and applicable civil and criminal penalties.
