Automatic Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes

Automatic Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes

  • Legal Background

    Legal Background

    The Act on Administrative Cooperation in the Field of Taxation (hereinafter: the Act), which  came into force on 1 January 2017, regulates administrative co-operation in the field of taxation between the Republic of Croatia and member states of the European Union and other participating jurisdictions, through automatic exchange of information of financial accounts between the Republic of Croatia and other jurisdictions (Common Reporting Standard or CRS) and implementation of the Treaty between the Republic of Croatia and the United States of America on enhancing the fulfilment of tax obligations on the international level and on implementing the FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act). The procedure of collecting data on tax residency of customers, due diligence rules and implementation of  automatic data exchange are further regulated under the Rules on Automatic Exchange of Information in the Field of Taxation (hereinafter: Rules).

  • Customer Due Diligence Rules

    Customer Due Diligence Rules

    In accordance with the above regulations and the due diligence rules prescribed by them, financial institutions in the Republic of Croatia, including also Raiffeisenbank Austria d.d. (hereinafter: the Bank) shall:

    • collect from its clients the relevant information about them and their accounts,
    • collect from its client the tax residency certificate and other relevant documentation,
    • determine the client’s tax residency on the basis of delivered data and documentation,
    • as a result of the due diligence process, forward the data as prescribed by the Act, to the relevant tax authority as regards reporting accounts, by 30 June of the following calendar year at the latest (for the period from 1 January until 31 December of the current year).

Information for Clients

 

Within the inspection, all customers opening an account with the Bank after the day of 1 January 2016 (new customers) are required to fill in the Self certification document for private individuals (hereinafter: Statement) and the Self certification document for sole trader and for business entities (hereinafter: Statement).
By filling the Statement, the respective customer is to define in which state they are a tax resident. Further information on the rules for determining tax residency in individual states is available on the following link.
Further, in the Statement the customer is required to state their tax identification number for the state that they entered as their state of tax residency (if they were issued any such number). If the Customer does not know his tax identification number, more information is available on the following link.
Business entities fill a special Statement and, along with the tax residency information, in the Statement they are required to define their status (active non-financial subject, passive non-financial subject, financial institution, public government body, central bank, international organization, a company the stock of which is regularly traded on an established securities market), and if defined as a passive non-financial entity, they are obligated to provide the tax residency information of their actual owners.
In keeping with the requirements of the existing regulations, the Bank will not establish any business relationship with a customer who refuses to fill the Statement of Tax Residency. On the basis of the available data recorded in its systems and documents, the Bank will inspect the accuracy of the customer's Statement.
If the data collected from the Statement indicate that the respective customer is a potential taxpayer of the United States of America (hereinafter: USA), the customer will be asked to confirm or contest their tax obligation towards the USA by filling the corresponding FATCA forms:
• form W-9 or
• form W-8BEN (for private individuals)
• form W-8BEN-E (for business entities) 

Reporting

 

On the basis of the obtained tax residency information of its customers, the Bank will deliver data on the financial assets for the customers whom it identifies as the residents of the USA, of the European Union member states and of other participating jurisdictions as in compliance with Article 4 of the Rules exclusively to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia, Tax Administration.

The list of participating jurisdictions is available on the web site of the Tax Administration.
The Tax Administration of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia will exchange the respective information with the tax authorities of other jurisdictions including the tax authority of the USA.
Within the scope of the information exchange, the tax administrations will share mutually the following data: account holder's identification information, account holder's tax identification number, account number and balance, and other data as stipulated under the Act in Article  26 (concerning the participating jurisdictions), or in Article  61 (concerning the USA).
Additional information on automatic information exchange and obligations of all banks in Croatia towards the Tax Administration are available on the web site of the Tax Administration.


 

Useful Links from Tax Administration

  • ÇRS

    ÇRS

    You will find all details by clicking this link

  • FACTA

    FACTA

    You will find all details by clicking this link