The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a guide to help reporting financial institutions (RFIs) and professional firms establish best practice in reporting under the ‘automatic exchange of financial account information’ system (AEOI).

The guide explains how to conduct a self-review of an RFIs governance, due diligence, data and reporting systems under which they provide financial account information on foreign tax residents to the ATO.

The ATO exchanges financial information with participating foreign tax authorities under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS).

The AEOI self-review guide and toolkit outlines 3 core elements and areas of compliance: AEOI governance, due diligence obligations and reporting systems.

The ATO says that when it undertakes an AEOI review, it evaluates the RFI’s compliance with the AEOI obligations by obtaining objective evidence of the RFI’s AEOI framework. The ATO looks for evidence in the form of policies and procedures demonstrating the existence and design of the AEOI framework.

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