Cayman Islands CRS Compliance Form obligations for 2020

Japan tax alert 12 November 2020

The Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (DITC) has released a new CRS Compliance Form (Compliance Form) on 15 April 2020. The Compliance Form requires Cayman Islands Financial Institutions (Cayman FI) to provide additional information annually to the Tax Information Authority to ensure the effective implementation of, and compliance with, the reporting and due diligence procedures stipulated in accordance with the Cayman Islands CRS regulations (Cayman CRS).

The Compliance Form is a requirement distinct from the previously existing annual CRS reporting framework. It must be completed annually by all Cayman FIs and Trustee Documented Trusts (TDTs) and cover the same periods covered under their CRS reporting. The key elements of the Compliance Form are summarized below.

• The Compliance Form contains five sections and requires Cayman FIs and TDTs to declare information concerning their financial accounts, AML/KYC practices and compliance with Cayman CRS.
• Specifically, the Compliance Form asks Cayman FIs and TDTs to confirm whether they have established and maintained written policies and procedures to comply with Cayman CRS, and whether they have implemented and complied with those policies and procedures.
• The Compliance Form requires Cayman FIs and TDTs to acknowledge that there are sanctions for providing inaccurate information to the Tax Information Authority and for contravention of their compliance and due diligence obligations.
• For the 2019 reporting period, the deadline for the submission of the Compliance Form will be 31 March 2021 (extended from the original date of 31 December 2020). The deadline for submission is expected to be 15 September in subsequent years. The DITC portal for submission is open beginning early December 2020.
• The Tax Information Authority may apply penalties where this deadline is not met.