CRS form, What it is and why you shouldn't do what the bank says

I was replying to another naturalized citizen. :grinning:

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Yup the woman at the bank said she would have you tick tax resident of Taiwan not your nationality after I showed just being Australian does not make you a tax resident there. Showing her my NAB app with my tax residency being listed as Taiwan was a good thing so she could see that not just be told that

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I don’t know that @TaipeiGuy2000 is a Taiwanese citizen - judging from his post history he has an APRC and recently got the new ID number while updating his address, and I’m guessing that’s what he meant by “change my Taiwan ID”.

But whether he is or not, the point is that these CRS/banking/tax residency problems we’re discussing recently are quite specific to people who aren’t Taiwanese, so mixing in a few anecdotal reports from people who are Taiwanese and didn’t have a problem is more misleading and confusing than useful. It would be useful to mention you’re a citizen, IMO.

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TaipeiGuy2000

4h

The link is down now. I wanted to read because I was asked to make a false CRS statement at the bank yesterday. I recently had to change my Taiwan ID because of an address change, so I went to visit a couple of banks.

I assumed he meant ROC ID not APRC ID.

I did in this thread.

Sorry to put you on the wrong footing. I have an APRC. Not sure what to call that number? ARC ID ? I should have said my ID number in Taiwan instead of Taiwan ID number.

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Just say ARC number or residency number. It’s stupid. I know.

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No prob’s just write APRC. Some of us here have Taiwan ID which we assume is citizenship like Fuzzy and Spring Onion and myself.

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Can name it Taiwan Laowai ID :joy:

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I mean, should I care I was unable to change my APRC ID with them? Or is it more their problem than mine since I already notified them in person?

I did receive a weird SMS a day or two later:
“Dear Customer, According to the notification of Joint Credit Information Center, we have actively renewed with your new UI No. The availability of your credit cards will not be affected. Sincerely, Mega International Commercial Bank Co., Ltd. Card Department”

Not sure whether that means they also updated the UI No with my bank account that the cards are linked to?

I do not plan to go back to Megabank until I have another solid bank account with credit cards set up. I have a couple of cards but they are shitty or do not come with a bank account or are with a guarantor. Other than that I have Richart.

I am going to try China Trust. Then once I have that set up I will go back to Megabank and if they give me shit again I will close the account. I am sure they do not care either way.

No it doesn’t.

In fact it now means it will be more difficult to pay and see the balance as the ID numbers won’t match. - Total madness that they are still doing this!

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When my ARC number for my HSBC credit cards got updated, they had to re-issue new cards, auto-pay stopped working, and my HSBC app couldn’t see the new cards for a few weeks. If you’re on a regular ARC, then your online banking will stop working once the ARC expires.

When first arriving in Taiwan, my bank asked me to complete the CRS. I told the staffer that I wasn’t comfortable giving my home country’s tax information, particularly my tax ID number. She eventually called her supervisor down, they had a chat, and she said, “Just write down any random number, it doesn’t matter.” :laughing:

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That’s because when/if anything comes back to you the banks hands will be clean.

That information goes off to the Taiwan tax authorities who will input it in their system and send to your country of passport.

Your home country could theoretically question and investigate why you are putting wrong numbers on the form.

The bank has wiped their hands clean because they can say they just gave you the form…

But nevertheless… (if you signed this and gave wrong numbers) you just admitted right here to committing fraud…

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He did not say he signed anything. But, indeed, the bank recommended he commit fraud.

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Employees of both CTBC and Mega Bank have told me pretty much the same thing - that I shouldn’t worry about what’s written there because they don’t do anything with it. They weren’t really able to answer the follow-up questions/points:

  • They might not be doing anything with it (at least that the employee is aware of), but they’re at least passing the info to the tax office to do something with, and the tax office is then supposed to pass that info on to foreign tax authorities. The bank is obliged to pass the info on, and if they’re not doing so the withheld tax wouldn’t be showing up on our tax returns.
  • If you’re not doing anything with it, why are you requiring me to give you the info?
  • Requiring us all to give the info then promising they won’t pass it on is difficult to believe, because it would imply they have some internal way of labeling accounts as reportable vs. non-reportable despite collecting the same info for all foreigners, one that doesn’t appear on the withholding statements, and I don’t buy they’re doing that.
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The Chunghwa Post bank tried to insist that I put my home country’s tax ID in the CRS declaration. Even although I’d been living in Taiwan long enough (6+ months) that I was no longer a tax resident back in my birth country.

I had to argue with them and eventually get the supervisor. They eventually let me open the account without providing my foreign tax id.

I know someone who did give their tax id via CRS. They were contacted by their home tax department about undeclared overseas income.

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It does happen. Thankfully very rarely… but this shit needs to be sorted

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Which country?

They were Australian. But hadn’t lived there for many years.