SIFMA Global Tax Reporting Symposium 2025 - Key Takeaways

The 2025 SIFMA Global Tax Reporting Symposium held in New York at the beginning of October showcased how the financial world is rapidly transforming to meet the demands of an increasingly complex, data-driven, and interconnected global tax environment. Although the IRS was unable to attend due to U.S. government shutdown, the event maintained strong momentum with a global focus on regulatory transformation and innovation in data-driven compliance.

Evolving Reporting Landscape

From the IRS’s modernization of reporting Forms 1099 to the inclusion of digital asset sales under the new broker reporting framework, the U.S. tax system is catching up to a digital-first economy. Some key points raised in the conference and worth ongoing monitoring:

• The IRS is set to turn off the FIRE system in January 2027 in favor of the newer IRIS system. All forms must be filed in IRIS starting with 2026 tax returns.
  • This system change means reporting will be done in XML format, and embraces API functionality rather than uploading files to a system.
• Other adjustments to reportable fields on the 1042-S, reporting thresholds on some 1099, inflation indexing, and auto loan deductions demonstrate a move toward simplification and inclusivity.
• The U.S. commitment to CARF and potential accession to CRS 2.0 could redefine its global reporting relationships and potentially supersede FATCA.
• The GENIUS Act of 2025 marks a pivotal point for U.S. crypto oversight.
  • At the same time, the IRS continues to clarify treatment of staking, tokenization, and ETPs, ensuring a fair tax landscape for both innovators and investors.

However, these developments come with greater responsibilities for financial intermediaries tasked with expanded reporting and verification duties.

Global Harmonization: CRS 2.0 and CARF

The OECD’s twin frameworks, CRS 2.0 and the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), are reshaping the international tax environment. These initiatives aim to close critical gaps in financial and crypto-asset reporting. By 2027, over 65 jurisdictions will share crypto and financial account data under harmonized standards, driving unprecedented transparency. This coordinated effort marks a significant leap toward global transparency especially as digital assets challenge traditional regulatory boundaries.

Although the two frameworks align in objective, they differ in scope, complexity and timing. This means dual compliance and large-scale data remediations will be unavoidable, requiring updates to financial institution due diligence procedures and robust systems to manage cross-border privacy risks. Organizations are more than ever required to meet this complexity with agility and precision.
 

Regulatory Audit Complexities

Audits are becoming more aggressive and data analytics-driven. Jurisdictions such as Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Cayman Islands are intensifying sampling efforts to include both reportable and non-reportable accounts for FATCA and CRS reporting. These reviews are evolving from basic questionnaires to comprehensive documentation requests, reflecting a shift of enhanced regulatory expectations.

Meanwhile the IRS is leveraging data analytics to identify anomalies in 1042-S reporting, including issues like “Unknown Recipients”, invalid treaty country codes, and expired QI statuses. The have also renewed focus on Responsible Officer verification and withholding claim integrity.

The cost and scale of compliance continue to rise, particularly for institutions managing corporate actions under rules like 1446(f) and 305(c). Firms must now balance the precision of reporting with the need for technological efficiency and control. Additionally, as audit enforcement tactics evolve, financial institutions must proactively strengthen their compliance infrastructure to mitigate risk and avoid costly penalties.

The New W-9

The newly revised Form W-9 Draft has been published by the IRS. There is a new Certification statement, a new FATCA reporting exemption code, and clarification on when to use a SSN versus EIN for certain entities. While this is in draft format, there is an industry expectation that there will be additional IRS guidance and clarification before a final version is published.

Institutions should closely monitor its implementation to anticipate changes in reporting and onboarding workflows. Read more here: https://www.taina.tech/resources-news-and-awards/irs-form-w-9-2026-draft-an-update-for-digital-asset-compliance

The Takeaway

SIFMA 2025 reaffirmed that tax transparency is no longer a compliance checkbox, it is a strategic cornerstone of global financial governance. The convergence of regulation, innovation, and data intelligence is creating a borderless, technology-driven tax ecosystem.

Financial institutions must:

• Embrace automation and AI for efficiency.
• Build robust remediation frameworks for CRS/CARF compliance.
• Foster cross-functional collaboration among compliance, technology, and legal teams.

The message is clear: the future of global tax reporting is transparent, technology-led, and transformative.

We would love to talk to you more about your current documentation validation process and how our award-winning FATCA and CRS Validation platform may add value to your organisation.

For more information on how our fully automated FATCA and CRS Validation platform can add value to your business, get in touch or request a demo to see it in action.