CRS - Why we require certain information from our customers

N26 as a financial institution is (according to CRS) required to report information directly to tax authorities in the European Union concerning financial accounts held by customers who are tax resident in another country.

CRS stands for Common Reporting Standard. The CRS has been developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and is a global reporting standard for the automatic exchange of information (AEOI). The goal of CRS is to allow tax authorities to obtain a clearer understanding of financial assets held abroad by their residents for tax purposes in order to fight tax evasion. More than 90 countries have agreed to share information on residents' assets and incomes in conformation with CRS.

In order for us to be able to accurately determine whether an account is to be reported to the tax authorities for CRS purposes, we need to ask you:

  1. In which country(ies) are you a tax resident?  You are normally a “tax resident” and therefore subject to tax on your worldwide income in the country where you have a residential address. If you have a place to live in more than one country, then there are normally “tie-breaker rules” included in double tax treaties and tax laws of the relevant countries that help determine where you are a tax resident. It may be that you are tax resident in more than one country during a year and, if so, we'd need to know both the country and your taxpayer identification number for each of them in order to accurately report the information to the relevant tax authorities. 
  2. What is your taxpayer identification number (“TIN”) for each country? The issuance and format of a TIN differs by country. For EU countries, the European Commission has published guidance on TINs in each EU country, which may help you in identifying your individual TIN(s) in these countries. 

In case your circumstances change, you can always update your tax information in the N26 app. To do this, simply log in to the N26 app and go to:

My Account > Settings > Personal Settings > Tax Information