Enhanced financial account information reporting

Canada is committed to strong international partnerships as part of its ongoing efforts to ensure a fair tax system for all. The exchange of financial account information between tax administrations is part of an array of better tools and approaches the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is using to combat tax evasion and promote voluntary compliance with tax laws.

The CRA participates in automatic exchanges with other jurisdictions, including the United States. This sharing of information includes details of financial accounts belonging to non-residents and U.S. persons (which includes U.S residents or U.S citizens). Under these exchanges, the CRA simultaneously receives similar information from our partners regarding Canadians who hold financial accounts offshore or abroad.

The automatic exchange of financial account information with the United States (U.S.) is governed by an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) signed in 2014. The IGA was implemented through changes to PART XVIII, Enhanced International Information Reporting, in the Income Tax Act, which set out detailed requirements for Canadian financial institutions.

Automatic exchange of financial account information with other jurisdictions was implemented in accordance with the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters, also known as the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), to which more than 100 jurisdictions have committed. Detailed information on the requirements for financial institutions under the Common Reporting Standard are also contained in the Income Tax Act.

Accounts identified as belonging to a non-resident or a U.S. person must be reported to the CRA by Canadian financial institutions. In order to complete these exchanges, account holders may be asked to certify or clarify their tax residence to their financial institution. Account holders who fail to comply with such a request may have their financial account reported to the CRA. Financial institutions must, upon request, allow account holders to have access to the personal information that has been reported to the CRA.

To help account holders and their financial institutions understand these processes, more details can be found in the links below.