According to Foresight News, the Hong Kong government recently announced that it has conveyed to the OECD Global Forum on Tax Transparency and Effective Exchange of Information its commitment to implement the Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (the Reporting Framework) to enhance international tax transparency and combat cross-border tax evasion activities. Hong Kong commits to implementing the reporting framework with appropriate partners under a reciprocity principle, and such partners must meet standards for safeguarding data confidentiality and security. Considering the latest timeline set by the Global Forum, the government plans to complete the necessary local legislative amendments by 2026 or earlier, and begin the first automatic exchange of information under the reporting framework with relevant tax jurisdictions starting in 2028.
The OECD announced a reporting framework in June 2023 to ensure global tax transparency. As an extension of the existing 'Common Reporting Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information on Tax Matters,' the reporting framework sets out a similar mechanism for users or controllers of crypto assets to automatically exchange tax information related to crypto asset accounts and transactions with the tax jurisdiction of their tax residents each year. To ensure the fair and effective global implementation of the reporting framework, the Global Forum has invited all relevant crypto asset industries and tax jurisdictions identified as directly related to the reporting framework (including Hong Kong) to implement the reporting framework.