Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a US legislation that requires Financial Institutions (FIs) to report information on financial accounts held by US persons. Similarly, Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is a reporting requirement introduced to collect information on financial accounts in participating countries. CRS intends to safeguard the tax system by bringing transparency and fighting against tax evasion. Under FATCA and CRS, the reporting UAE FIs must identify US reportable accounts, CRS reportable accounts, and report financial account information to The Ministry of Finance, UAE (MOF) on an annual basis or file a nil return that it does not have any such account. UAE FIs would include banks, custodians, investment traders, asset/wealth managers, funds, and insurance companies.
