CRS v2 to v3 change explorer
The seventeen changes between Schema 2.0 and the amended CRS, filtered by institution type.
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Resource center · Tax Transparency
Tax reporting schema versions in force.
Which package is current, which is superseded, and which one your authority actually accepts for the reporting year. Four regimes, four release trains, and no single official page that lists them together.
Why a register rather than a download
Schema packages are published by the OECD and by the European Commission, and they move on their own cadence: a user guide can be revised without the schema version changing, and a status message schema can be reissued while the reporting schema stays put. The version you need is therefore a fact about a moment in time, not a file to keep a copy of.
We deliberately do not mirror the packages here. A copy hosted by a vendor becomes the apparent version of record for files that vendor does not control, and a stale copy validated against is worse than no copy at all. Every row below links to the publisher.
The version that governs you is domestic. The OECD schemas are designed for exchange between competent authorities. A jurisdiction may mandate the same schema for domestic filing by reporting institutions, may add its own fields, or may require an entirely national format. Confirm with your competent authority before building to any row here.
The register
| Package | Schema | User guide | Published | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRS — legacy | 2.0 | 3.0 | June 2019 | Current pre-amendment baseline. Still the operative package for exchanges until the amended standard takes effect. |
| CRS — amended | 3.0 | 4.0 | October 2024 | Supports amended CRS reporting. First exchanges expected to commence in 2027; the version attribute on the root element must read 3.0. |
| CRS status message | 2.0 | 3.0 | June 2025 | Carries the authority’s response to a submission. Supersedes the 2019 status message package. |
| CARF | 1.5 | 2.0 | July 2025 | Revises the guide first published in 2024. Separate XML standard from CRS; not a CRS profile. |
| CARF status message | Published | Published | June 2025 | The CARF equivalent of the CRS status message package. |
| DAC8 | — | — | Directive (EU) 2023/2226 | EU implementation of CARF-style rules, applying from 1 January 2026. Substantive rules are set at Union level; filing mechanics remain Member State specific. |
Two rows are easy to misread. The legacy CRS package is not withdrawn — it remains the operative one until the amended standard applies to you, so both versions are live facts at the same time. And DAC8 has no schema row of its own: it is a directive, and the technical format for domestic filing is determined nationally.
Reading a version pair correctly
Every package carries two numbers, and they move independently.
- The schema version is the XSD. It changes when elements are added, removed or restructured, and it is what a file is validated against. It appears as an attribute on the root element and must match the package used to build the file.
- The user guide version is the interpretation. It can be revised without the schema changing — as happened with CARF, where a revised guide followed the original release without a corresponding schema renumber.
A firm that tracks only the schema number will miss guide revisions that change how an existing element should be populated. Those revisions do not break validation, which is precisely why they are missed: the file passes and the content is wrong.
Using this before a filing run
Three checks, in this order, before any submission:
- Confirm the package your authority accepts for the reporting period. Not the newest published version — the one the receiving system expects.
- Confirm the guide revision against the schema version. A newer guide against the same schema usually means a population rule changed.
- Confirm the status message package your authority returns responses in, if you decode them automatically. It moves separately from the reporting schema and is the one most often left on an older version in a pipeline.
Official sources
Primary instruments only. Each is named in full so the reference remains traceable even if a link moves.
- OECD — Tax Transparency Resource CentreOECD · current CRS and CARF technical packages and user guides
- OECD — Amended Common Reporting Standard XML Schema: User Guide for Tax AdministrationsOECD · Schema 3.0 and User Guide 4.0, October 2024
- OECD — Consolidated text of the Common Reporting StandardOECD · the substantive amended standard the schema carries
- EUR-Lex — Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226 (DAC8)EUR-Lex · Annex VI definitions and reporting requirements
- European Commission — DAC8 overviewCommission · scope and application from 1 January 2026
- Your competent authorityNational · authoritative for which package is accepted for domestic filing, and for local fields and deadlines
REGREP is an independent software provider. This record explains a reporting framework in plain language and is not legal, tax or regulatory advice. Confirm scope, thresholds and submission dates with your competent authority before you file.
Keep reading
What changes between the versions, and what happens when a file meets the schema.
Message validation: schema, scheme rules and rejections
What each layer of validation catches, and why a schema-valid file can still be rejected.
Read the guide →Corrections, voids and resubmissions
How a correction references the original, and why the reference architecture outlives the schema version.
Read the guide →Know the version. Then validate against it.
Create a free account and generate against the package your authority accepts for the period you are filing.