How to report Automatic Exchange of Information
Source: gov.uk (2025-10-23)

Find out how to report information to HMRC using the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) if you are a financial institution.

Overview

Financial institutions must use the online system to report to HMRC under Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) agreements.

The filing date for returns for each year ending 31 December is the following 31 May. HMRC may charge you a penalty for late returns.

The list of territories which the AEOI process covers is regularly updated.

Find out how to register for Automatic Exchange of Information (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-for-automatic-exchange-of-information) if you have not already done so.

Check which territories you need to report on (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim402340) in the International Exchange of Information Manual.

All references to AEOI include the:
- United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)
- Common Reporting Standard (CRS)
Non-mandatory fields on the HMRC portal and in the HMRC schema do not mean the information is not mandatory under the FATCA and CRS requirements.

The online system will only accept Latin characters from Latin character set 1 (iso-8859-1).

How to report AEOI

Reports made from 1 January 2027

You’ll need to report CRS and FATCA separately. HMRC’s combined CRS and FATCA schema will no longer be in use after 31 December 2026.

It will be replaced by the:
- amended CRS Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in October 2024, for CRS reporting
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS) FATCA schema published in January 2017, for FATCA reporting
From 1 January 2027, all XML submissions to HMRC will need to be on the amended CRS or FATCA schema respectively, including submissions relating to previous calendar years.

Reports made up to 31 December 2026

To submit your return as an XML file:

Go to the At a glance page on the HMRC portal.

Under Create an AEOI return, select Upload an AEOI return as an XML file.

Follow the on screen instructions to upload your XML file.

To manually input your return details:

Go to the At a glance page on the HMRC portal.

Under Create an AEOI return, select Create an AEOI return online.

You can:
- search for a specific financial institution
- view all the financial institutions you‘ve registered
If you’re a financial institution reporting on your own behalf, your institution should be the only one in the list.

Select ‘Create an AEOI return’ for the relevant financial institution.

Online questions

We’ll ask you questions about the reporting period you’ve entered.

You should provide details of any elections you’re making and the regime that applies, for example FATCA.

If you’re making a mixed return, including accounts under FATCA and CRS, answer the question for the regime to which the election refers.

Question 1

“Are you electing not to report cash value insurance contracts or annuity contracts described in section III A of the CRS?”

Section III A of the CRS describes a pre-existing individual account that is a cash value insurance contract or an annuity contract that the reporting financial institution is prevented by law from selling to residents of a reportable jurisdiction.

You should select:
- yes, if you elect not to report cash value insurance contracts or annuity contracts described in section III A of the CRS
- no, if you’re not making this election
- not applicable, if you’re reporting under FATCA only
Question 2

“Are you making an election to treat dormant accounts as not being reportable accounts?”

This is for CRS only and indicates that the financial institution has elected not to report dormant accounts. You should select either:
- yes, if you’re not reporting dormant accounts within the meaning set out in the UK regulations
- no, if you’re not making this election
- not applicable, if you’re reporting under FATCA only
Question 3

“If you’re reporting specified US persons, are you making an election to use alternative due-diligence procedures taken from US Treasury regulations?”

For US persons, if you’re using the standard UK due-diligence procedures in identifying reportable persons, in the UK guidance, then you should select ‘no’.

You should only select ‘yes’ if you’re applying to use due-diligence procedures derived from the US regulations.

Question 4

“Are you making an election to use thresholds in your due-diligence process?”

Threshold exemptions can apply to certain pre-existing and new individual accounts, and pre-existing entity accounts.

There are no threshold exemptions for new entity accounts.

For more details on thresholds, read section IEIM402565 of the International Exchange of Information Manual (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim402565).

You’ll need to make an election to apply the threshold exemptions. You can do make an election by answering ‘yes’ to this question.

Question 5

“Are you submitting any nil returns?”

It’s not usually necessary to submit nil returns. You may have potentially reportable accounts whose balances fall below the relevant thresholds, meaning that there’s nothing to report once you’ve applied the thresholds.

In this case, it will be necessary to submit a nil return to make the election to apply the thresholds by selecting ‘yes’ to question 4. You can make a nil return voluntarily if you want. If you select ‘yes’ to question 5, the return will proceed to the final screens before submission.

Detailed returns

From the next 2 screens, you’re able to:
- change reporting financial institution details, if anything is incorrect
- create your return
- delete a draft return
After selecting ‘Create your return’ you can input details for each reportable account. You can then add the next one by selecting ‘add your next account holder’ for each reportable account holder until you create your full return.

Guidance in the International Exchange of Information Manual (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information) explains what constitutes a reportable account for different types of accounts.

Type of account holders

There are 6 different types of ‘account holder’ shown. However ‘Non-participating foreign financial institution (NPFFI)’ is now redundant and you will not be able to select it. You can choose from:

Reportable person

The reportable person is an individual. This includes reportable individuals holding debt or equity interests in investment entities, such as trusts that qualify as financial institutions.

Reportable entity

The reportable person is an entity. This includes:
- an entity that is tax resident in a Reportable Jurisdiction
- a specified US person
- an entity with no residence for tax purposes that has its place of effective management in a Reportable Jurisdiction
It includes Active Non-Financial Entities but not Passive Non-Financial Entities.

Passive Non-Financial Entity with controlling persons

The account holder is an entity with reportable controlling persons, specifically a Passive Non-Financial (Foreign) Entity with controlling persons resident in a Reportable Jurisdiction. This includes citizens of the USA.

Read section IEIM404020 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim404020) and section IEIM404040 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim404040) of the International Exchange of Information Manual for details of what determines a Passive Non-Financial Entity.

Owner documented financial institution (FATCA only)

The account holders are reportable as detailed in section IEIM401200 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim401200).

Non-participating foreign financial institution (NPFFI) (FATCA only)

No longer in use.

Passive non-financial entity

The account holder is an entity with no identified reportable controlling persons.

Account holder details

For controlling persons you should select the controlling person type from the drop down menu. This information is for CRS reporting only and is not mandatory.

Provide Tax identification numbers (TIN)s for individuals or identification numbers (IN)s for entities for the account holder if you have them. There’s an option to choose ‘0’ if you do not hold either a TIN or IN.

For a US reportable account, if you do not know the TIN, enter 000000000 or the appropriate alternative code (read section IEIM402040 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim402040) of the International Exchange of Information Manual).

You can report the account holder for up to 5 reportable jurisdictions using the portal. If you’re reporting the account holder to 6 or more reportable jurisdictions you’ll need to use the XML schema method.

Account number

This is a number by which the financial institution identifies the specific account being reported.

If there’s an account number, you must provide it, along with the account number type (IBAN, OBAN, ISIN, OSIN or other).

If there is not an account number, you must provide an alternative reference that will enable you to identify the account in future. This could be a name or short phrase.

Undocumented accounts

You’ll be asked if the account is undocumented. An account is undocumented if you only hold a ‘hold-mail’ or ‘in-care-of’ address. This should only be used for CRS reporting purposes. Where this applies it should show the account holder as resident in the UK.

Dormant accounts

You’ll also be asked if the account is dormant. An account is considered to be dormant if the account:
- holder has not initiated a transaction in the last 3 years on that account or any other account they hold with the financial institution
- holder has not communicated in the last 6 years with the financial institution that maintains the account or any other account they hold with the financial institution
- is considered to be dormant under the normal operating procedures of the financial institution that are applied for all accounts maintained by it, provided these procedures are substantially similar to the previous requirements
There’s an additional requirement for cash value insurance contracts to be regarded as dormant. As well as the previous tests, the financial institution has not communicated with the account holder in the last 6 years about the account or any other account they hold with the financial institution.

Accounts closed during the reporting year

You’ll be asked if the account was closed during the reporting year.

The currency code is the currency that the assets are denominated or valued in. If mixed currencies are used, report the primary currency.

The account balance is typically 31 December at the end of the reporting year. Section IEIM402120 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim402120) of the International Exchange of Information Manual has information on account balance or value.

If the account has been closed, you must report the account balance or value immediately before closure, for FATCA purposes.

For CRS reporting there’s no requirement to report the balance or value of the account at closure. Enter this as 0.

If you’re reporting an account under CRS and FATCA combined, report the account balance or value immediately before closure.

HMRC will automatically set balance to 0 for the purposes of CRS reporting.

Account type

There are 4 choices of account type:

Depository

The financial institution accepts deposits in the ordinary course of a banking or similar business. For full details and restrictions, read section IEIM400740 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim400740) of the International Exchange of Information Manual.

Custodial

The financial institution holds financial assets for the account of others as a substantial portion of its business in the UK. Read section IEIM400650 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim400650) of the International Exchange of Information Manual.

Insurance

The financial institution is a Specified Insurance Company, meaning it provides either Cash Value Insurance or Annuity Contract products. Read section IEIM400840 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim400840) of the International Exchange of Information Manual.

Investment

An entity that meets either of the tests at section IEIM400770 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim400770) of the International Exchange of Information Manual. This includes debt and equity investments such as trusts that qualify as financial institutions due to being professionally managed.

Payments

To report payments where an account has been closed, read section IEIM402170 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim402170) of the International Exchange of Information Manual.

Payment types depend on the type of account, but can include:
- dividends
- gross proceeds or redemptions
- interest and
- other payments
You can find guidance in the International Exchange of Information Manual, for:
- custodial accounts at section IEIM402200 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim402200) and section IEIM402220 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim402220)
- depository accounts at section IEIM402240 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim402240)
- other types of account at section IEIM402260 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/international-exchange-of-information/ieim402260)
Your AEOI return is now ready for submission.

Processing of personal data

We’ll carry out any processing of personal data under Article 6(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Read the HMRC Privacy Notice (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-protection-act-dpa-information-hm-revenue-and-customs-hold-about-you/data-protection-act-dpa-information-hm-revenue-and-customs-hold-about-you) for more information.

We’ll carry out any processing of special category data under the Article 9 of the GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018. Read the HMRC appropriate Policy document (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-appropriate-policy-document/hmrc-appropriate-policy-document) for more information.

We’ll retain any personal data in line with the HMRC Records Management and Retention and Disposal Policy (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-records-management-and-retention-and-disposal-policy/records-management-and-retention-and-disposal-policy).

If we share any personal data outside of HMRC, this will follow:
- data sharing guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-protection-act-dpa-information-hm-revenue-and-customs-hold-about-you/data-protection-act-dpa-information-hm-revenue-and-customs-hold-about-you#data-sharing) within the HMRC Privacy Notice
- the contracts and data sharing guidance on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website (https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/accountability-and-governance/accountability-framework/contracts-and-data-sharing/)
- the HMRC Information Disclosure Guide (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/information-disclosure-guide)