About the Common Reporting Standard

As part of global measures to counter tax evasion, all NZ banks and financial institutions are now required to collect information about customers’ foreign tax residency and pass that and other personal and account information on to Inland Revenue, which may then be exchanged with overseas tax authorities.

Generally called the Common Reporting Standard, it has been initiated by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) under the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) regime to achieve the exchange of certain information between participating countries. Currently over 100 countries have agreed to implement the standard, including New Zealand.

Mandatory requirement

Collection of information and reporting under the Common Reporting Standard is a mandatory requirement for all NZ banks and financial institutions. If you do not provide this information to us we may not be able to open you or your entity’ account.

You may also be subject to certain penalties if you fail to provide this information or if you provide false or misleading information. For more information regarding the Common Reporting Standard please visit the IRD website.

Who the Common Reporting Standard applies to

If you bank with BNZ for your individual or business banking needs, from 1 July 2017, the Common Reporting Standard may affect you. You may be asked to complete a self-certification declaring whether you’re a foreign tax resident in other countries and to provide details.

If you are unsure about your foreign tax residency, or have any specific questions regarding foreign tax residency, we recommend you talk to a tax adviser, as we are unable to provide tax advice. You can also visit the IRD website for further information.

If you’ve received communication about deactivating or closing some of your accounts/products

You may have recently received a letter or email from BNZ asking you to urgently provide the requested information regarding your current tax residency status to avoid having some of your accounts/products deactivated or closed.

Under the Common Reporting Standard, we are required to deactivate or close accounts/products of certain customers who have not provided the requested information within a specific timeframe.

This information is required even if it is to confirm you are only a tax resident of New Zealand.

For further information on your obligations under the Common Reporting Standard/Automatic Exchange of Information, including why BNZ is asking you for this information and what could happen if you don’t provide it, please refer to Inland Revenue’s Automatic Exchange of Information Factsheet or search “Common Reporting Standard” on Inland Revenue’s website for more information. 

More information on how you or your entity may be affected

Annual reminder letter for trust customers

We regularly contact our trust customers with a reminder about their responsibilities for their trust’s controlling persons. Responsibilities include providing a Controlling Person Tax Residency Self Certificate to us if any controlling person/s has recently received any payments or distributions. A reminder is sent at least every 12 months to make sure you and your trust's information is up to date and meets the annual reporting requirements from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Common Reporting Standard. 

 What you need to do

If you receive a letter from us and your trust has beneficiaries who’ve not previously provided a Controlling Person Tax Residency Self-Certification form to us, you’ll need to ensure that they complete a form and return it to us if they:

  • have received a payment or benefit from the trust; or  
  • intend to exercise any vested rights.  

For more information about who account holders and controlling persons are and what they may need to do, visit the Inland Revenue's website.

 

Providing the requested information to us

Sending us your tax residency information

  1. Update your tax residency under Settings > Your Details in your Personal Internet Banking (individuals only), or you can complete and return the requested information. See a list of PDF forms
  2. Return your completed forms by: 
    i) emailing scanned copies to bnz_global_tax_compliance@bnz.co.nz, or
    ii) posting them to BNZ Global Tax Compliance Team, PO Box 995, Auckland.

Common Reporting Standard self-certification forms

Common Reporting Standard Reasonable Explanation forms