2023 CRS Peer Review

Many people think that the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is merely a set of international guidelines that countries can implement at their discretion, allowing some nations to selectively enforce CRS based on their interests. However, the OECD, the creator of the CRS, anticipated various challenges and situations that countries would face in implementing the CRS framework. Therefore, every year, a Peer Review is conducted among countries regarding the implementation of CRS (which refers to mutual reviews among tax authorities). If a country fails to meet the requirements of the CRS during implementation, it will be identified in the peer review, and the OECD will require the relevant country to make corrections. Failure to promptly rectify these issues could lead to sanctions from other countries, such as the EU.

In November 2023, the OECD published the "Peer Review of the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information" (see the cover image above, referred to as the "Peer Review Report"). Let’s take a closer look at this report.