The Common Reporting Standard

What is the Common Reporting Standard (CRS)?

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is a global standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information between governments around the world to help fight against tax evasion.

It requires all financial Institutions, including NS&I, who operate in a CRS participating jurisdiction to gather certain customer information and report it to local tax authorities.

Are all banks doing this?

All financial institutions – that includes banks, insurers and asset management businesses – in participating countries are required to comply with the CRS.

Who is reportable?

The CRS seeks to establish the tax residency of customers. Under the CRS, NS&I is required to identify customers who appear to pay tax outside of the United Kingdom, and report certain information to HMRC. They may then share that information with the tax authority where you are tax resident.

Why are you asking me for my jurisdiction(s) of tax residency?

Under the CRS, tax authorities require financial institutions such as NS&I to collect and report certain information relating to their customers’ tax statuses.

When a new customer purchases an NS&I product we will ask them to certify a number of details about themselves and the jurisdictions they pay tax in. This process is called “self-certification” and we are required to collect this information under the CRS.

How is my tax residency defined?

This will depend on where you live and your circumstances. Please contact a professional tax advisor or check the rules governing tax residency page on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) website for more information on how to determine your tax residency, as NS&I cannot give tax advice.

Rules governing tax residency

I live in the same country as I pay tax so why do I need to give you these details?

Under the CRS, we are legally required to establish the tax residency status of all our customers, even if you are tax resident in the same country as where you hold your account. However, typically if you live in the same country as you pay tax your details will not be reportable to the tax authorities for CRS purposes.

You already have this information about me, why are you asking for it again?

We are obliged under the CRS to report customers to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) if we have information about them which leads us to believe they hold a financial account and are resident for tax purposes in one of the CRS participating jurisdictions. To ensure we hold all the information necessary to complete our report to HMRC we may need to request further information from our customers.

What information are you reporting about me?

We will report the following information to HM Revenue & Customs about individual financial account holders and controlling persons:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Country(ies) of tax residence
  • Tax Identification Number (or equivalent where applicable)
  • Account details
  • The total account balance or value of their accounts as of the end of the calendar year or other appropriate period, including any interest earned
  • The total balance reported will not include any excluded accounts

Which NS&I accounts are excluded?

The following NS&I accounts are excluded:

What if I only hold an excluded account?

If you only hold excluded accounts, we are not required to report your information to HM Revenue & Customs.

I have closed my accounts with you, do you still need to provide the information about them and me to HM Revenue & Customs?

If you have closed your account during the reporting year, we may still need to provide this information to HM Revenue & Customs for that year, but will not report you in future years unless you open another account with us that is not excluded.

What about my rights under Data Protection legislation?

Your rights under the Data Protection legislation (which includes the General Data Protection Regulation and the forthcoming UK Data Protection Act) are unaffected by the CRS. We are legally required to comply with the CRS requirements by providing this information to HM Revenue & Customs, but will always do so securely and in compliance with the data protection legislation.

How can I find out more?

If you have any questions about what you need to send to NS&I, please contact us.

Contact us

For more detail on the Common Reporting Standard, visit the HM Revenue & Customs website or if you live abroad contact the tax authority in your country.

HM Revenue & Customs