Frequently asked questions about the cross-border payment information declaration (06/02/2024)

In the information declaration on cross-border payments, form 379, payments that are considered cross-border are declared when, in one quarter, a payment service provider has provided more than 25 cross-border payment services to the same beneficiary.

A payment is cross-border for the purposes of the reporting obligation in the following cases: 

• When the payer is established in a Member State and the beneficiary is established in another Member State.

• When the payer is established in a Member State and the beneficiary is established in a third territory.

A payment whose payer is located in a third territory, even if the beneficiary is located in a Member State, is not considered a cross-border payment for the purposes of this reporting obligation and therefore does not need to be declared in Form 379.

The location of the payer will be considered to be in the corresponding country (article 166 quinquies LIVA):

• To the IBAN number of the payer's payment account or to any other means of identification that allows the payer's location to be unequivocally identified and provided. in the absence of such means of identification;

• In the absence of the identification means of the previous point, the BIC code or any other entity identification code that unequivocally identifies and provides the location of the payment service provider acting on behalf of the payer.

The beneficiary's location will be considered to be in the corresponding country (article 166 quinquies LIVA):

• To the IBAN number of the beneficiary's payment account or to any other means of identification that allows the beneficiary to be unequivocally identified and the location to be provided, or in the absence of such means of identification;

• In the absence of the identification means of the previous point, the BIC code or any other entity identification code that unequivocally identifies and provides the location of the payment service provider acting on behalf of the beneficiary.

No. Payments made by payers located in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla do not have to be declared in Form 379.

No, since they should be considered domestic payments.

No.

If both the payer and the beneficiary are considered to be outside the EU, the payment is excluded from the declaration obligation.

Yes. All payments must be declared, not just those exceeding the threshold.

The Payment Services Directive defines a payment account as an account held in the name of one or more payment service users, which is used for the execution of payment transactions. (see FAQ 3.7). 

As long as an account is used for that purpose, payments to or from that account are within the scope of the cross-border payments disclosure report, regardless of the name of that account or whether that account is also used for other purposes. The name of an account is not relevant as such.

If, according to the rules applied for the location of the payer (see FAQ 5.3) and beneficiary (see FAQ 5.4), the payment is considered cross-border and the beneficiary receives more than 25 cross-border payments in the quarter, then it must be declared in form 379.

The legal form or status or condition of the payers and beneficiaries do not affect the obligation to declare. 

Therefore, payments made to persons who do not have the status of entrepreneur or professional must be declared if all the conditions defined in article 166 quater of the LIVA are met.

Payment intermediaries, such as collection payment service providers, are intermediaries between the merchant and the payer's payment service providers (which may be banks or credit card issuers or others). 

The payers' payment service provider transfers the payments to the intermediary payment service provider's account, and the intermediary payment service provider subsequently transfers the funds to the merchant's account in a single settlement. 

When the intermediary is authorised to operate as a payment service provider, it may act as a payment service provider for the payer or beneficiary and will communicate payments when the conditions set out in article 166 quater of the LIVA are met.

Yes, provided that the payers are located in a Member State and the payee receives more than 25 cross-border payments in a given calendar quarter, all cross-border payments will fall within the scope of the threshold calculation and the reporting obligation. 

Payments executed by a payer in one Member State and a payee in the same Member State (domestic payments) are not covered by the reporting scope.