The New Zealand Bankers Association has released a standardised member bank-approved set of tax residency self-certification forms for completion by law firm trust account clients.

New Zealand is committed to the OECD initiative on the automatic exchange of financial account information for foreign tax residents. The AEOI uses a Common Reporting Standard to share tax information.

The new forms were developed by the NZBA in consultation with the Inland Revenue Department and the New Zealand Law Society Property Law Section and can be found on the NZBA website. 

The forms are intended to assist law firms to collect and pass on information about their trust clients to their banks to help meet Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and AEOI requirements.

There are two forms: one for individuals and one for entities. The entity form contains a comprehensive glossary to assist signatories to complete them correctly.