The Federal Central Tax Office of Germany (BZSt) on December 11, 2024, released common reporting standard (CRS) Newsletter 03/2024 that contains the following updates:
- Further extension of non-objection decree validity: The validity of the non-objection decree concerning violations of reporting obligations under the FKAustG for lawyers' collective trust accounts is further extended to December 31, 2025 (previously December 31, 2024).
- Transition to the BZSt online portal: In 2025, CRS data transmission will transition to the new BZSt online portal, the main online portal of the Federal Central Tax Office. This transition will also bring in the new DIP mass data interface for CRS, replacing the previous ELMA interface (schema version 1.0). The existing ELMA interface (schema version 1.0) and the BOP portal will likely remain operational until November 2025. Notably, there are no plans yet to transition to ELMA schema version 2.0.
- Caution against using real data in the test environment: The BZSt advises users not to import real data into the test environment. The processing log will confirm if data delivery was successful. If not, the delivery must be canceled immediately. The BZSt reserves the right to delete all data imported via the test system, which usually happens at the end of the year. Consequently, users are advised to save all necessary test data in advance.
Read a December 2024 report prepared by the KPMG member firm in Germany