Under the Common Reporting Standard, banks and other financial institutions report your accounts each year to their tax authority, which passes the information to the country where you are resident. Holding money through a company or trust doesn't necessarily keep you out of it.
What is reported
- Your name, address, country or countries of residence, tax identification number, and date and place of birth.
- The account number and the financial institution.
- The balance or value at the end of the calendar year.
- Interest, dividends and other income paid in, and the proceeds of sales.
Companies and trusts
If an account is held by a company or trust with mainly investment income, the institution looks through it and reports the people who own or control it, as well as the entity itself.
Where it goes
To the country where the institution's records show you as resident. That is why the residence you give on the bank's self-certification form needs to be right.
In the UAE
UAE financial institutions report each year by 30 June for the previous calendar year, and the UAE exchanges the information with its partner countries.
An example
Elena lives in Dubai and holds her investment portfolio through a company, with a bank in Switzerland. The company has only investment income, so the bank reports the account with Elena's details as its controlling person.
Quick questions
Is property reported?
Not as property. CRS covers financial accounts, so property held directly is not reported, though rent paid into a bank account shows in its balance.
Does the US take part?
No. The US has its own system, FATCA, and does not exchange under CRS.
Sources: UAE Ministry of Finance: CRS frequently asked questions; UAE Ministry of Finance: CRS guidance notes.
General information as at October 2026, not advice. The examples are fictional and simplified, and the rules have conditions and exceptions not covered here. Take advice on your own circumstances, in each country involved, before acting.