China's Tax Authority Begins Collecting Insurance Income from Overseas; CRS 2.0 to Include Crypto Assets

ME News reports that on August 6 (UTC+8), with the normalization of CRS information exchange, tax authorities can now fully access dividend and cash value data from overseas insurance policies, gradually closing previous regulatory gaps; taxation on insurance-related income earned abroad has already been initiated. CRS 2.0 is a major update by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), commonly referred to in practice as “CRS 2.0.” Its core changes include expanding the definition of financial assets to encompass cryptocurrencies, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and specific electronic money products, aligning with the growing integration of digital assets into mainstream finance. Overall, the implementation of CRS 2.0, alongside stricter cross-border income tax administration, creates a synergistic effect across multiple dimensions—including overseas stock trading, overseas insurance, and offshore trusts—mutually reinforcing and amplifying regulatory oversight of cross-border tax sources. Previously, Hong Kong, China, plans to implement CRS 2.0 by 2028 while simultaneously advancing the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). Under this framework, cryptocurrency exchanges, brokers, and crypto ATM operators will be required to report transactions involving crypto-to-fiat conversions, cross-crypto asset swaps, and cross-border transfers of crypto assets. Reports must precisely identify assets by their full names—such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT)—and aggregate metrics including total market value, holding volume, and transaction count by transaction type. For retail payment transactions, individual transactions exceeding $50,000 must be reported separately. Although mainland China has not yet officially announced a timeline for CRS 2.0 implementation, tax authorities in multiple regions have begun notifying taxpayers via phone calls and text messages since 2025 to self-audit and declare overseas income earned between 2022 and 2024, and to comply with tax obligations accordingly. It is understood that CRS 2.0 will not only fully expose overseas-held crypto assets to tax supervision but may also trigger coordinated investigations by other regulatory bodies. (Source: BlockBeats)