Since AEOI was introduced, there is hardly any tax discretion left for accounts abroad. For family offices, fiduciaries and asset managers the standard is everyday business: every account opening requires a tax residence self-certification, and every structure must be classified under the CRS.
How it works
Reporting financial institutions, meaning banks, certain insurers, custodians and investment entities, identify the tax residence of account holders and, for certain entities, of controlling persons. For accounts of persons resident in a partner state they report annually name, address, tax identification number, account number, balance and income to the Swiss Federal Tax Administration, which transmits the data to the partner state. Switzerland has collected data since 2017 and exchanged it since 2018.
Entities and structures
Whether a company, foundation or trust is itself a reporting financial institution or an entity whose controlling persons are reported depends on its activity and management. A trust managed by a professional trustee can itself be a reporting institution; a passive entity is reported by the institution holding its account, including its controlling persons. This classification is the real work in family office structures.
Distinction
For the US, the FATCA regime applies instead of AEOI. For crypto-assets, the CARF creates a separate standard. And tax residence information is not the same as establishing the beneficial owner under AML law, even though the questions overlap. Our article on AEOI and FATCA for family offices explains the connections.