South Africa implements CRS Schema 3.0 reporting changes

The announcement follows SARS’s withdrawal of CRS version 2.0: from 18 September 2026, the authority accepts only submissions complying with CRS Schema 3.0. The underlying amended Common Reporting Standard regulations are contained in Notice R.6886 in Government Gazette 53735. They were made under sections 1 and 257 of the Tax Administration Act 2011 and took effect on 1 March 2026.^[1][2][4]

Null submissions require fewer steps

For active reporting financial institutions with no reportable information, SARS has introduced a system-generated null-submission indicator for its internal processing. A successful FTI01 null submission no longer needs to be followed by an FTI02 declaration. A submitting entity may also include up to 20 reporting financial institutions in one FTI01 null submission. These changes simplify nil reporting but do not remove the duty to determine whether reportable accounts exist.^[1][2]

Schema 3.0 expands data and product coverage

For full-data submissions, the update highlights e-money products, payment institutions, digital-wallet platforms and central-bank currency accounts. It also stresses stronger self-certification and tax-residence identification, more complete taxpayer and controlling-person information, improved taxpayer-identification-number data and higher data-quality standards.^[1][4]

The supporting External Business Requirements Specification, version 3.0.0-17, is marked for implementation. It adds fields for equity-interest type and self-certification; account-number and account types; due-diligence procedure and joint-account status; and controlling-person type and self-certification. Files must be submitted through SARS’s HTTPS or Connect:Direct channels and validated against the specification before acceptance.^[2][3]

South African financial institutions and service providers should confirm that production files use Schema 3.0, map the new fields correctly and adopt the revised null-submission workflow. The 23 September notice is an operational implementation update rather than a new commencement event for the regulations.^[1][2][3][4]