Zen.com and CRS?

[Forester]

It is known that according to the DAC8, the 7th amendment to the Directive on Administrative Cooperation (exactly Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226 of 17 October 2023 amending Directive 2011/16/EU), all EU-operating EMIs are considered Reporting Financial Institutions under CRS effectively onwards 2026-01-01. Reporting will concern all accounts, unless 90-day rolling average balance does not exceed USD 10,000 at any day during the year.
It's the future.

As of now, some EMIs, reportedly, claim not to report; but the vast majority is reticent about this. (Of course, it is recommendable to act as if all report.)

Nevertheless, @Giorgiogori reported here Alternative to blackcatcard about Zen

Giorgiogori said:
Zen reports crs .. Confirmed by their customer support.
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”“ I guess that this is perhaps the first case when some EMI openly claims that they report even now.

@Giorgiogori, could you share what the customer support told you exactly?

Or can some other member elaborate on this?

Especially, whether they are reporting everything (as banks generally do) or just the accounts with an average balance over USD 10,000 as it is planned?

I wonder because frankly, I would not expect such activity especially at Zen; if it is all true, I would probably think about possible background, just of my curiosity 😉

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[EliasIT]

Forester said:
accounts with an average balance over USD 10,000 as it is planned?
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I would like to know who planted the idea that EMIs, banks, and similar institutions only report accounts with a balance over 10K!

Let it be known, this is a huge lie. ALL accounts are reported. I experienced this myself two years ago with the Danish tax authorities who suddenly had access to ALL the EMIs I had opened accounts with, and they were well-informed. Some had only a few euros, others thousands.

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[12345]

I doubt any EMI would report CRS if they are not obliged to do so by authorities. It's an additional unnecessary cost for them, especially since EMI sector is so competitive.
Zen Support was lying in my opinion. They won't report until 01/01/2026.
However EMIs with a bank license like N26 and Revolut do report already I believe

 

[Don]

EliasIT said:
I would like to know who planted the idea that EMIs, banks, and similar institutions only report accounts with a balance over 10K!

Let it be known, this is a huge lie. ALL accounts are reported. I experienced this myself two years ago with the Danish tax authorities who suddenly had access to ALL the EMIs I had opened accounts with, and they were well-informed. Some had only a few euros, others thousands.
Click to expand...

There is a difference between automatic reporting, and reporting on request.
If they request data, of course they will get everything.

And secondly, the tax authorities of some jurisdictions get automatically the data of all the local bank accounts of their residents. This is not even related to CRS.

 

[Forester]

12345 said:
I doubt any EMI would report CRS if they are not obliged to do so by authorities. It's an additional unnecessary cost for them, especially since EMI sector is so competitive.
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I understand your perspective; and it makes sense. From another point of view, I can imagine well that it can be a certain tit-for-tat with the regulator...

12345 said:
Zen Support was lying in my opinion. They won't report until 01/01/2026.
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Well possible. Then I wonder why and how it exactly looked 😉

12345 said:
However EMIs with a bank license like N26 and Revolut do report already I believe
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For sure!

Don said:
There is a difference between automatic reporting, and reporting on request.
If they request data, of course they will get everything.

And secondly, the tax authorities of some jurisdictions get automatically the data of all the local bank accounts of their residents. This is not even related to CRS.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...

 

[ilke]

Forester said:
Nevertheless, @Giorgiogori reported here Alternative to blackcatcard about Zen

”“ I guess that this is perhaps the first case when some EMI openly claims that they report even now.
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Maybe the user is lying?

Or Zen thought the Gov is getting in touch? smi(&%

They might be reporting, but as @12345 said, I find it a bit unlikely with the circumstance that there is not yet an enforced necessity for them to do so automatically.

 

[DerAufklaerer]

I used Zen as a bridge solution for crpyoto exchanger from/to

Alternative is Icard (Sepa costs 1-2 EUR).

 

[Forester]

DerAufklaerer said:
I used Zen as a bridge solution for crpyoto exchanger from/to
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Yes, this is a very frequent use-case for Zen.

Do you have some experience what their support claim about CRS?

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

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[Belfort]

Would like further confirmation that they do report since I use this EMI as a bridge between LLC funds and crypto.

 

[AlicaFunk]

12345 said:
Zen Support was lying in my opinion. They won't report until 01/01/2026.
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why on this date ?

 

[Forester]

AlicaFunk said:
why on this date ?
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🙂 Read the very first paragraph of the opening post Zen.com and CRS? . 😉

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...

 

[EliasIT]

Don said:
There is a difference between automatic reporting, and reporting on request.
If they request data, of course they will get everything.

And secondly, the tax authorities of some jurisdictions get automatically the data of all the local bank accounts of their residents. This is not even related to CRS.
Click to expand...

I completely understand what CRS is about; I'm not new to this. I had a Mister Tango account, and I lived in Denmark. As far as I know, Mister Tango is not located in Denmark! And suddenly, I received a letter from the tax authorities demanding my account statements, and they also needed account statements from Revolut.

So what now? Do you think it's not CRS but perhaps Santa Claus or my neighbor who told them about these accounts?

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If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability!
My personal favorite thread posted in the Mentor Group. Group of investment companies to avoid licensing.

 

[Don]

EliasIT said:
I completely understand what CRS is about; I'm not new to this. I had a Mister Tango account, and I lived in Denmark. As far as I know, Mister Tango is not located in Denmark! And suddenly, I received a letter from the tax authorities demanding my account statements, and they also needed account statements from Revolut.

So what now? Do you think it's not CRS but perhaps Santa Claus or my neighbor who told them about these accounts?
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Yes, it must have been reported based on either CRS (automatic reporting provided your account was subject to it) or EOIR (The exchange of information upon request refers to the exchange of information between tax authorities further to a request for administrative assistance. The basis is formed by bilateral agreements and the administrative assistance convention).

Its worth noting that many countries incl. Lithuania report certain information automatically to local tax office.
Then a request needs to be submitted by foreign authority, and they will quickly get information about the accounts you hold, so they can follow up to get full statements.

 

[clemens]

Did they request account statements from you @EliasIT or did they already had them when they asked you?

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[leeman]

= This post has been copied here from another thread =

Forester said:
May I bother you, @leeman , again? Could you please share here what you exactly asked Zen support and how exactly they replied? Sorry for being inquisitive but the answer would help many people.
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So I asked at zen email if they report crs informations and this is the response I get :


Hello,

Thank you for reaching out to ZEN Customer Support.

ZEN.COM is a licensed financial institution under the supervision of the Central Bank of Lithuania.
In accordance with the law there, it is required to automatically exchange information in the field of taxation (Common Reporting Standard).

In case of any more questions, feel free to contact us.


Stay ZEN,

Last edited by a moderator: Aug 15, 2024

 

[Forester]

leeman said:
= This post has been copied here from another thread =


So I asked at zen email if they report crs informations and this is the response I get :


Hello,

Thank you for reaching out to ZEN Customer Support.

ZEN.COM is a licensed financial institution under the supervision of the Central Bank of Lithuania.
In accordance with the law there, it is required to automatically exchange information in the field of taxation (Common Reporting Standard).

In case of any more questions, feel free to contact us.


Stay ZEN,
Click to expand...

So, I think the issue is clear. (@janet25 and others). Kudos to @leeman .

Is someone here familiar with the Lithuanian regulation? @Sols? @ilke?
I particularly wonder whether it requires reporting everything (as it is for banks) or just the accounts with an average balance over USD 10,000 as it is planned EU-wide.

(As the quoted statement is a clear official answer which was used, very probably, not only in the one case, I doubt that the support is lying. @12345.)

Of course, as I have already written, generally it is recommendable to act as if simply all entities in AEOI/CRS countries report; but it is worth to know what is the regulation framework.

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...

 

[dirtyharry]

EliasIT said:
I would like to know who planted the idea that EMIs, banks, and similar institutions only report accounts with a balance over 10K!

Let it be known, this is a huge lie. ALL accounts are reported. I experienced this myself two years ago with the Danish tax authorities who suddenly had access to ALL the EMIs I had opened accounts with, and they were well-informed. Some had only a few euros, others thousands.
Click to expand...

What EMI's reported you ?

 

[Don]

EliasIT said:
I would like to know who planted the idea that EMIs, banks, and similar institutions only report accounts with a balance over 10K!

Let it be known, this is a huge lie. ALL accounts are reported. I experienced this myself two years ago with the Danish tax authorities who suddenly had access to ALL the EMIs I had opened accounts with, and they were well-informed. Some had only a few euros, others thousands.
Click to expand...

In many countries, residents' accounts (both corporate and private) are reported automatically. This has nothing to do with CRS.
Ironically, there are countries where, if you open local bank accounts as a resident, your bank accounts are not automatically reported, providing higher anonymity from the tax office, but foreign accounts might be reported based on CRS.
If they start tax audits, of course, they will get all the info anyway, with rather few exceptions.

 

[DerAufklaerer]

I wonder whether and how I should continue. I use Zen as a crypto interface with 3-digit amounts SEPA in and out to crypto exchanges.
It's not actually due to start until 2026.

 

[Forester]

DerAufklaerer said:
I wonder whether and how I should continue.
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It is on your sole discretion 😉

DerAufklaerer said:
I use Zen as a crypto interface with 3-digit amounts SEPA in and out to crypto exchanges.
It's not actually due to start until 2026.
Click to expand...

Yes, generally it is so that reporting have to start on 2026-01-01. But apparently, Zen has already started. I guess that it is due to the LT regulator which went crazy.

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...