Global Tax Transparency: Real Estate Investment Under Closer Oversight

Cross-border real estate investment is growing, and because the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) does not cover property, a loophole for tax avoidance remains. In response, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is speeding up work on the global exchange of real estate information to close this regulatory gap.

The OECD real estate information exchange system

Background and milestones

• 2023: a framework was first proposed and a transparency report was published.
• 2025: cooperation on implementation moved forward and was made a priority.

How it works

The system builds on the CRS framework and uses a global cooperation network to exchange tax information automatically:

• Account identification: financial institutions identify non-resident accounts and confirm the holder’s tax residency.
• Automatic exchange: information is sent regularly through intergovernmental platforms to the country where the holder is tax resident.
• Data collection: balances, income and other financial and basic data on property-related accounts are collected.
• Global cooperation: more than 120 countries and regions have joined the CRS network.

Main participating countries and regions

• Popular investment destinations: Singapore, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan and Hong Kong, China
• Traditional tax havens: the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda
• Major economies: European Union member states, Southeast Asia, the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates) and others

Impact on individuals and businesses

For individuals:

• property transactions linked to financial accounts are monitored
• people with medium to high net worth are a key focus
• global asset allocation calls for more careful planning

For businesses:

• cross-border investment structures become transparent
• global tax compliance pressure and costs increase
• existing shareholding and investment structures need to be reassessed