The DAC 8 (Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226) entered into force on 1 January 2026 with the aim of strengthening the existing automatic exchange of information framework and combating tax evasion and fraud more effectively. The Directive covers two main areas: (i) the introduction of the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), which establishes new mandatory obligations relevant for Crypto Assets Service Providers (CASPs), and (ii) amendments to expand the scope of the existing Common Reporting Standard (CRS), usually indicated as the “CRS 2.0”).
1. CRS 2.0: Additional entities may incur CRS reporting obligations, whilst existing Reporting Financial Institutions may have extended reporting obligations
The DAC 8 Law extends existing CRS definitions, such as:
- The notion of Reporting Financial Institutions, extended to:
- certain entities investing in crypto-assets or holding such assets in custody
- e-money institutions
- entities holding Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) on behalf of their clients.
- The definition of Financial Assets, explicitly extended to crypto-assets
- The notion of depository accounts, extended to e-money and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)
In addition, CRS reporting fields were extended:
Additional reporting fields are introduced, such as the following:
- Whether a valid self-certification is held for an account holder (and any controlling person of a Passive Non-Financial Entity account holder), whether an account is a joint account, and if so, the number of joint account holders, whether an account is a pre-existing or new account (i.e. opened before, respectively, on or after 1 January 2016)
- Account types of reportable accounts: Depository Account, Custodial Account, Cash Value Insurance Contract or Annuity Contract, or Debt or Equity Interest held in an Investment Entity
- For account holders- investment entities that are legal arrangements, the role of the reportable person: settlor, trustee, protector, beneficiary, or other equivalent role
- The role of controlling persons of Passive NFE account holders (previously optional)
- The account number type, which remains optional, but includes new categories such as “Specified Electronic Money Product”
CRS due diligence obligations are reinforced
Certain due diligence requirements are also reinforced, among others as to reasonable efforts to collect TINs and dates of birth for pre-existing accounts during AML/KYC updates, review of onboarding controls and procedures to ensure accurate reporting and flagging inconsistencies between FATCA, CRS and AML data for review.
To be noted the Luxembourg tax authorities also took the occasion to “raise the bar” through an update of the CRS FAQ in November 2025, imposing amongst others the following:
- Reporting FIs should notify the tax authorities in case of a status change impacting reporting obligations by 30 June of the following year, justifying their updated classification.
- Keeping the register of actions not only to cover cases of reasons to know, actual knowledge and changes in circumstances but also updates to procedures and policies, strategic CRS decisions taken, tracking of training modules rolled out and monitoring of service providers where CRS tasks were outsourced.
2. Reporting Crypto-Asset Service Providers (Reporting CASPs) – A new category of reporting entities
Reporting CASPs with Luxembourg nexus incur classification and reporting obligations similar (but not the same) o those of reporting Fis.
Reporting CASPs are any entities providing crypto-asset services; a broad notion including not only CASPs authorized under the MiCAR but also Crypto-Asset Operators not required to register under MiCAR.
In a nutshell, their requirements are:
- Registration with the Luxembourg tax authorities (those authorized under MiCAR would be automatically communicated by the CSSF to the tax authorities though)
- Classification of crypto-asset users through self-certification and verification processes, with an aim of determining which users are reportable
- Notification obligations of reportable individual users to guarantee their rights of access and rectification of personal data
- Reporting of reportable users and certain transactional information (or filing a nil report in the absence of reportable users) to the Luxembourg tax authorities; as with FATCA/CRS reporting, by 30 June of the following year. The first reporting will be due by 30 June 2027 regarding calendar year 2026.
Certain simplification options exist to prevent duplicate reporting and to reduce the administrative burden if Reporting CASPs also qualify as RFIs under the CRS.
3. Other measures
The DAC 8 Law:
- expands exchange of information obligations regarding cross-border rulings covering individuals, under certain conditions and introduces (as from 2028) reporting of additional details regarding cross-border rulings and APA
- formalizes the ECJ decision (C-694/20 of 2022) in respect of the DAC 6 whereby lawyers (under legal professional privilege) do no longer need to notify other DAC 6 intermediaries (they still must notify their clients though)
- modifies the CBCR obligations, imposing certain additional data reporting (on TINs of constituent entities)
- simplifies DAC 7 reporting in case platform operators rely on identity and tax residence identification services of the platform users
- imposes exchange of information on life insurance products upon payment of benefits further to the decease of the insurer person (if the life insurance product is not already subject to CRS reporting)
As from when does this apply?
The DAC 8 Law generally applies, with retroactive effect, as from 1 January 2026 (with few exceptions).
What needs to be done in respect of the CRS 2.0 and by Reporting CASPs?
CRS 2.0 - Existing Reporting FIs
Existing RFIs for CRS purposes should ensure procedures and processes are updated to cover the CRS 2.0 obligations and ensure the new data capture and reporting requirements can be met. Although the additional reportable data fields are not complex, the required data must be captured, not only for account holders onboarded as from 1.1.2026 but also for account holders onboarded before this date. Should these data fields not have been captured yet, ensuring the new data is effectively collected may require significant resourced to be deployed.
Takeaway: One of the aims of these measures is to reinforce the verification of reasons to know and actual knowledge by Reporting FIs; an obligation existing since the introduction of FATCA and the CRS but not always sufficiently monitored in practice. For example, the fact that the existence of a valid self-certification will have to be confirmed and reported can be seen as a reminder that Reporting FIs must verify, remediate and document (in the Register of Actions) any reasons to know and actual knowledge identified (not only upon onboarding but on a permanent basis during the entire account holder relation). Upon a FATCA/CRS audit, the Register of Actions is one of the documents that typically can be exploited for sample testing by the authorities.
Reporting CASPs
CASPs and Crypto-Asset Operators should determine the impact of these new obligations on their organization.
Typically, implementation for Reporting CASPs would include establishing processes and procedures, BRDs related to IT systems, ensuring registration obligations (where required) are met, updated onboarding processes and classification of users go live, reportable data is collected and effectively reported within the legal deadlines, and a compliance program is set up. Where DAC 8 tasks are conducted internally, appropriate training packages should be rolled out, and internal processes should ensure compliance is monitored throughout the organization.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or require further guidance on how the new carried interest regime may impact you or your clients, please do not hesitate to contact our dedicated specialists:
