The list of non CRS countries 2019 - 2025

I have compiled the below small list for all of you to get a quick overview of what countries don't participate in the CRS (The Common Reporting Standard) which is an information standard for the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) regarding bank accounts on global level, between the tax authorities, which the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has developed. It's purpose is to combat tax evasion.

Lots of information I know, but hope it helps people to understand what the list is about and how important it can be for one looking for total privacy.

here is the list in alphabetical order:

• Armenia
• Cambodia
• Dominican Republic
• Republic of Georgia
• Guatemala
• Kazakhstan
• Macedonia
• Montenegro
• Paraguay
• Philippines
• Puerto Rico
• Serbia
• Ukraine
• United States (Consider FATCA RULES) !!

You need to check each country as time goes since this is a ever changing world and the fact that some countries actually will be part of the CRS is a ever lasting threat.

 

[JimBeam]

Bosnia and Herzegovina my country signed this CRS agreement but first year of automatic exchange is not set yet. So many freelancers here use services such as Payoneer and avoid paying income tax. But I wonder one day when exchange starts if the data exchanged will go back from previous years too or just from the year it started.

As far as I know after this is signed, then the countries sign these mutual agreements with each other. No one can tell you when it will be signed with each additional country and what will say in that agreement (for eg. from what date the data will be exchanged).

 

[Fred]

Checking the OECD website and seems UAE is CRS complaint under Automatic exchange of information (AEOI) since 2018. So does offshore make sense there

View attachment 2417

http://www.oecd.org/tax/transparency/country-monitoring/

Because of that we always recommend to crreate a full resident case by getting a Residence Visa through the Onshore Company Formation. So that you the bank has your Residence Visa, local ID card and local phone no. on file and therefore no obligation to report under CRS.

It's explained further by the OECD itself here:

https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-...sistance/residence-citizenship-by-investment/

 

[wellington]

Seems to be missing Thailand, that comes into play 2022 for recording and 2023 for filing.

 

[ciccino]

Because of that we always recommend to crreate a full resident case by getting a Residence Visa through the Onshore Company Formation. So that you the bank has your Residence Visa, local ID card and local phone no. on file and therefore no obligation to report under CRS.

It's explained further by the OECD itself here:

https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-...sistance/residence-citizenship-by-investment/

Does it apply to Panama as well? If you have residency in a country they have not to report you?

 

[Fred]

Does it apply to Panama as well? If you have residency in a country they have not to report you?

In theory - yes.

However Panama Banks are difficult to work with nowadays due to FATF Grey Listing, EU blacklisting.

They do a lot of re-KYC and I don't know in practice how far they check your substance.

@JackAlabama has Panama experience

 

[JackAlabama]

In theory - yes.

However Panama Banks are difficult to work with nowadays due to FATF Grey Listing, EU blacklisting.

They do a lot of re-KYC and I don't know in practice how far they check your substance.

@JackAlabama has Panama experience

A yearly cumbersome re-kyc is not uncommon with e.g. the better ones like Scotiabank (Canadian bank with many branches in Latam) and the list of requirements go long including showing rental contracts, employment etc. including you having a tax id number (can be obtained with a local job, purchase of real estate or paying some voluntary tax).
The option of "country does not issue tin" does not apply to Panama as tax is due although in practice most don't pay due to high tax free limits for low local salaries (about 12k/year) so it would be best to have a Panama Tin these days. Pre-crs it was ok to not have one.

They ask the usual stuff about utility bills and of course it is all in Spanish, which one better speak at least with a medium competency (fully fluent would be best).
"
Comprobante de domicilio una de estas opciones:

o Recibo de Utilidad: a nombre del cliente (Agua, Luz, Teléfono, Celular, Cable) que contenta la dirección.

o Contrato de Arrendamiento:
"

and how you get your cash.
"
Evidencia de fuente de ingreso:

o Declaración de Renta Vigente en caso de ser un profesional independiente, o

o Carta de Trabajo, Ficha de la CSS o en caso de ser asalariado.
"

There is a famous Venezuelan bank there called Banesco, which is said to be easier on kyc but its to anyones risk appetite to wire funds to/from a Venezuelan bank in Panama and how well said funds will be accepted elsewhere .

 

[JackAlabama]

Does it apply to Panama as well? If you have residency in a country they have not to report you?

Panamas Friendly nation has also been on a special list of high risk residency, but that is now removed and you need to invest 200k or have a real job (paying social sec etc) in order to get residency so the substance problem has been solved by making it way to expensive for what it is on offer. Unless of course one would like to live there almost full time and enjoy the tropical nature.

 

[JohnLocke]

residency so the substance problem has been solved by making it way to expensive for what it is on offer.

Depends on the calculation - what do you consider to be too expensive and what is it you will get for the money?

 

[ciccino]

Panamas Friendly nation has also been on a special list of high risk residency, but that is now removed and you need to invest 200k or have a real job (paying social sec etc) in order to get residency so the substance problem has been solved by making it way to expensive for what it is on offer. Unless of course one would like to live there almost full time and enjoy the tropical nature.

I still don't get this substance thing, for many countries, you're resident in a country if you live there most of the year, they don't care if you have a millionaire mansions or a CEO job in another state, so it really don't make much difference, am I missing something?

 

[uplana]

You need a company with substance if you don't live in the same country. It may look wrong but trust me, the tax office will do all what they can to proof that you did something wrong and hunt you down for tax evasion if you keep your money in a company without substance.

 

[JackAlabama]

I still don't get this substance thing, for many countries, you're resident in a country if you live there most of the year, they don't care if you have a millionaire mansions or a CEO job in another state, so it really don't make much difference, am I missing something?

If you live there for "the most part of the year", then your natural person has / is the substance and you can be light on the company side (e.g. you are freelancer etc and work with your person instead with your company.)
The thing is if you go light on everything, Panama banks will most prob not be easy with you even if you have the cedula, so be prepared for this if you plan to go with 0 substance.

 

[Risehigh]

If Nepal is non crs then opening bank account should be fine which will not be reported to India. Because for Indians it is possible to stay 150 days continuously in Nepal without any visa. . A cheap offshore destination to bank maybe.


A person having seychelles ibc - wont it be a perfect place to stash some cash in Nepal ?

Do you have more infos about that ?

 

[PaulKruger]

Would be a nice idea to make this sticky and keep it updated

it got sticky but not updated that often

 

[uplana]

it got sticky but not updated that often

+1 please update this thread

 

[backpacker]

+1 please update this thread

Take this regularly updated list https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/commitment-and-monitoring-process/AEOI-commitments.pdf and you know it all.
Many new jurisdictions going online in 2022-2024. Specifically surprised to see Moldova and Ukraine as the new rising stars in compliance matters

 

[MiddleEuroAsia]

Take this regularly updated list https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/commitment-and-monitoring-process/AEOI-commitments.pdf and you know it all.
Many new jurisdictions going online in 2022-2024. Specifically surprised to see Moldova and Ukraine as the new rising stars in compliance matters

Lol at Georgia.

"Developing countries that do not host a financial centre and were not asked to commit to a specific date to exchange information, but have done so voluntarily." and surprise surprise, this includes Georgia.

Nobody asked them to join the CRS but they just did it anyway, I don't know why this country is trying too much to be European, when they simply could have the EEA treatment and remain sovereign.

 

[JackAlabama]

Lol at Georgia.

"Developing countries that do not host a financial centre and were not asked to commit to a specific date to exchange information, but have done so voluntarily." and surprise surprise, this includes Georgia.

Nobody asked them to join the CRS but they just did it anyway, I don't know why this country is trying too much to be European, when they simply could have the EEA treatment and remain sovereign.

Yep same here. It seems weird. But the flag the eu flag everywhere and seem to bend over to please them but also the ppl seem to generally like the eu as well.

However, I just noticed Georgia is now in this category by 2024
URISDICTIONS UNDERTAKING FIRST EXCHANGES BY 2024 (1) whereas I was pretty certain the last time I looked at it it was under the category by 2023, meaning reporting starts from January 2022.

Seems they pushed it back one year? And then by next year, push back again one year ideally way into the future while commiting to every bs the eu demands while pocketing some sweet cash for development.

 

[backpacker]

Lol at Georgia.

"Developing countries that do not host a financial centre and were not asked to commit to a specific date to exchange information, but have done so voluntarily." and surprise surprise, this includes Georgia.

Nobody asked them to join the CRS but they just did it anyway, I don't know why this country is trying too much to be European, when they simply could have the EEA treatment and remain sovereign.

The current government does not like the current tax system.
Territorial taxation has been introduced by the previous administration after the 2008-war to attract foreigners to settle in GE. So, this is a political issue more then anything else.
The move to participate in CRS must also be seen in light of the coming overhaul of the Georgian tax system. The country wants to be like Estonia and very soon will have a tax system like Estonia. Territorial taxation will be a thing of the past!

However, I just noticed Georgia is now in this category by 2024
URISDICTIONS UNDERTAKING FIRST EXCHANGES BY 2024 (1) whereas I was pretty certain the last time I looked at it it was under the category by 2023, meaning reporting starts from January 2022.

Seems they pushed it back one year? And then by next year, push back again one year ideally way into the future while commiting to every bs the eu demands while pocketing some sweet cash for development.

You are correct: It was in the category "2023".
However, the OECD-counting of countries says: "2024" -> (1) and "2023" -> (7). This is a counting mistake. In reality it is "2024" -> (2) and "2023" -> (6).
So, there are only two possibilities:
1. The calculator of this OECD bureaucrat was out-of-order and he had to count manually.
2. The OECD bureaucrat drank decaffinated coffee and fell asleep while putting together this updated country list. When he woke up he was confused to see Georgia participating in the CRS and put it in 2024 because it is so unreal.

Let's wait and see. If the OECD bureaucrat is on offshorecorptalk he will most likely update either point 1 or point 2 by next week.

 

[JackAlabama]

The current government does not like the current tax system.
Territorial taxation has been introduced by the previous administration after the 2008-war to attract foreigners to settle in GE. So, this is a political issue more then anything else.
The move to participate in CRS must also be seen in light of the coming overhaul of the Georgian tax system. The country wants to be like Estonia and very soon will have a tax system like Estonia. Territorial taxation will be a thing of the past!


You are correct: It was in the category "2023".
However, the OECD-counting of countries says: "2024" -> (1) and "2023" -> (7). This is a counting mistake. In reality it is "2024" -> (2) and "2023" -> (6).
So, there are only two possibilities:
1. The calculator of this OECD bureaucrat was out-of-order and he had to count manually.
2. The OECD bureaucrat drank decaffinated coffee and fell asleep while putting together this updated country list. When he woke up he was confused to see Georgia participating in the CRS and put it in 2024 because it is so unreal.

Let's wait and see. If the OECD bureaucrat is on offshorecorptalk he will most likely update either point 1 or point 2 by next week.

It would not surprise me they doing this. That territorial tax system is way too good to be true for europe and as they see their holy grail in the eu, it would be just very logical to also amend their competitive one to a worse one.

 

[aage]

Many new jurisdictions going online in 2022-2024. Specifically surprised to see Moldova and Ukraine as the new rising stars in compliance matters

I believe it will not be something they can manage at all. To much pressure from the underworld.

"Developing countries that do not host a financial centre and were not asked to commit to a specific date to exchange information, but have done so voluntarily." and surprise surprise, this includes Georgia.

So Georgia is active reporting under CRS ?