CRS is a global standard for automatic exchange of financial account information. It was developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The objective of CRS is to identify persons who may be evading tax in their home country through the use of foreign or offshore accounts or entities.

Under CRS, financial institutions such as Income are required to identify their customer tax residency and report the financial account information of customers held to the local tax authority.  Given the broad application of the CRS, all of Income’s life policy Account Holder may be affected.

Income will require CRS declaration from you if you purchase new policy or perform some policy servicing transactions such as making a trust nomination, assignment from 1 Jan 2017 onwards. If you are an existing customer, Income may approach you for information and documentation to establish your tax residency.

The CRS declaration is applicable to both individual and business customers.

Account Holder refers to Proposer (eventually the Policyholder), Sole Trader, Sole Proprietor, Controlling Person, Beneficial Owner, Assignee, Trustee, Settlor, Beneficiary under a Trust or a Trust Nominee named under section 132 of the Singapore Insurance Act (Chapter 142), Proper Claimant as defined under section 61 of the Singapore Insurance Act (Chapter 142).

The term “Controlling Persons” means the natural persons who exercise control over an Entity. In the case of a trust, such term means the settlor(s), the trustee(s), the protector(s) (if any), the beneficiary(ies) or class(es) of beneficiaries, and any other natural person(s) exercising ultimate effective control over the trust, and in the case of a legal arrangement other than a trust, such term means persons in equivalent or similar positions.

The term “Controlling Persons” must be interpreted in a manner consistent with the Financial Action Task Force Recommendations.

Under CRS requirements, Account Holder will be requested to provide the following particulars:

• Name
• Address
• Place of birth* (for Individual and Controlling Persons)
• Date of birth*(for Individual and Controlling Persons)
• Country(ies) of tax residence
• Tax Identification Number(s)*
• Place of registration/incorporation (for Entities)
• Entity Type (for Entities)
• Controlling Person Type for certain Entity Types (for Controlling Persons)

*this does not apply in all participating countries and is subject to local law requirements.

If you need a copy of the FATCA and CRS Self Certification forms, you may download from Income's webpage.
• FATCA and CRS Self Certification form for individual account holder
• FATCA and CRS Self Certification form for Entity
• FATCA CRS Self Certification form for Controlling Person, where applicable.

Tax residence is defined by each country’s local tax laws and therefore may vary from country to country and different in different context. In certain cases, a person could be considered a tax resident in more than one jurisdiction.

Please confirm your tax residency and TIN with your tax advisor. Income cannot provide tax or legal advice to customer.

By regulations, there are only 2 circumstances in which a TIN is not required to be collected or reported:

1. The country / jurisdiction does not issue TIN to its residents; or
2. The country / jurisdiction does not require the collection of TIN

However, in certain circumstances, the Account Holder may not have a TIN temporarily or due to personal circumstances. In such instances, the Account Holder would need to document and justify the absence of TIN.

Under Singapore’s CRS legislation, Income is legally required to collect and establish your tax residency even if you are a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident.

Yes, customer is still required to complete the CRS declaration with TIN provided. Under Singapore’s CRS legislation, it requires and empowers all Reporting Singapore Financial Institutions (SGFIs) to collect and retain the CRS information for all their  account holders or controlling persons (of a passive NFE), instead of only for tax residents of jurisdictions with which Singapore has a Competent Authority Agreement (“CAA”) to exchange financial account information.

Yes. You need to notify Income whenever there is any changes in the information provided to us previously so that Income can advise on the required documents (if any).  You may login to My Income to update your tax residency. Alternatively, you may complete the Change of Personal Particulars Form.

US Tax Residents who have previously provided their US Tax Residency declaration under FATCA will also be required to provide additional information for the CRS as this is a separate regulation.

If you are a US resident, you would need to submit W-9 form under the United States government's Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). A copy of the form can be obtain from: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

Yes. Under the CRS regulations, SGFIs are required to establish the tax residence of their Account
Holders. Account Holders are responsible for completing the form and provide the required information of their tax residency. False information provided on the tax residency is an offence under the CRS regulation.

If you do not provide the requested information or documentation, Income may not be able to issue the policy or process the transactions.  Income may report  to the local tax authority based on the existing information available in our records.

For further information on your tax residency and TIN, please refer to the rules governing tax residence that have been published by the tax authority or contact your tax advisor. Income does not provide tax advice. You can also visit the OECD Automatic Exchange of Information portal.

Guidance on tax residency and Tax Identification Number (TIN) is available at the following link:

Tax Residency
www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistance/tax-residency/#d.en.347760

Tax Identification Number (TIN)
www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistance/tax-identification-numbers/#d.en.347759

You can update your tax residency via My Income customer portal. Click on guide for the steps to update.