In accordance with its commitment to AEOI under the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the Cook Islands has passed legislation to provide for the implementation of arrangements to exchange tax information; and passed regulations which include offences and impose a penalty regime in the event of a breach by any financial institution.
The Cook Islands passed the Income Tax (Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2016 and which came into force on 26 September 2016 which introduced the CRS into our domestic legislation. Further provisions regarding the CRS are incorporated in the Income Tax Amendment Act 2017.
In 2017 the Income Tax (Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information) Regulations 2017 came into force. The regulations provide a comprehensive overview of rules governing reporting under the CRS, and also provide consistency with section 96C (2) of the Income Tax Amendment Act 2017.
Further information on the CRS can be obtained from the OECD Global Forum AEOI portal at:
http://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/
RMD provides a Common Reporting Standard CRS portal to enable Financial Institutions to register and submit their CRS reports with RMD under the OECD AEOI Global Forum program. CRS reports contain financial information that is required to be exchanged with tax authorities outside the Cook Islands within the OECD AEOI Global forum program. Please click on the following link to file a CRS report with the Cook Islands tax authority. https://crs.cookislands.gov.ck/
AEOI Participating Jurisdictions - Cook Islands. Updated 25 May 2018
AEOI Reportable Jurisdictions - Cook Islands. Updated 27 May 2018
Updated: 01.08.2018 (PD)
