Ireland: Updated CRS guidance

The Irish Revenue Commissioners on 2 April 2024 published updated “frequently asked questions” (FAQs) on the implementation of the common reporting standard (CRS) in Ireland.

Updated FAQ 16—What should a Reporting Financial Institution (“FI”) do if an Account Holder provides a self-certification which fails the reasonableness check at account opening?—confirms that:

• When an entity account holder has certified that it is a financial institution on its CRS self-certification form, the reporting financial institution performing the reasonableness check of this certification may not solely consider the entity account holder a financial institution based on the availability of a FATCA global intermediary identification number (GIIN).
• Reporting financial institutions performing the reasonableness check on account holders need to take into account situations when an individual account holder has certified that they are resident in a jurisdiction that operates a high-risk citizenship and residence by investment (CBI/RBI) scheme and what additional clarifications may be sought (as outlined in the OECD’s CRS guidance on residence/citizenship by investment schemes).

New FAQ 19—In the case of Irish regulated funds that are Reporting Financial Institutions, and which are in the process of being wound down, at what point does the fund cease to be considered a Reporting Financial Institution and become closed for CRS reporting purposes?—confirms that:

• In most circumstances, an Irish regulated fund ceases to be a reporting financial institution from the date it is de-authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI).
• However, when the investment entity financial institution is set up with an umbrella and sub-fund structure and reporting is completed at the sub-fund level, a regulated sub-fund ceases to be a reporting financial institution from the date its approval is revoked by the CBI.

Read an April 2024 report prepared by the KPMG member firm in Ireland