As in, the internet, which can track and trace cross-border financial activity. Advisers with international clients beware.

Clients and their advisers are facing the strictest financial scrutiny seen in Blevins Franks' 50-year history. Get ready.

Tightened border controls, which check on residency, closer monitoring within double taxation treaties and exchange of information on international property ownership can trigger new tax probes.

Border controls

Many of us will have experienced the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) as it demands information at EU borders, including fingerprints and eye scans.

Recent figures from the European Commission note that 16,000 people were refused entry, with slightly more than 4,000 refusals due to 'overstayers' – those who breach the strict 90/180 residence rules.

You can only stay 90 days out of 180 before requiring a visa. This can lead to investigations of the personal finances of British holiday homeowners and retirees. EES stores personal data from non-EU nationals, along with entry/exit details, each time they cross a Schengen border.

By tracking everyone who enters and leaves, along with dates and biometric information – face and fingerprints – the system flags anyone who overstays the 90-day limit for EU non-residents, misuses visa-free travel or fake identities. It can also trace those not paying the right taxes.

Key exemptions apply, including for residence card holders. Property ownership alone, however, does not provide an exemption.

UK resident nationals owning a holiday home in a Schengen country are fully subject to EES registration and the 90-day limit. And the possible tax probe.

If a client meets the criteria for tax residency in a country, they are required to register with the tax authorities and submit the appropriate returns.
Failing to comply with the tax and/or visa rules can lead to serious consequences, which range from tax investigations, backdated liabilities, interest and penalties. For immigration, denial of entry or, at the extreme, deportation.

You can check with the free visa and residence requirement guides at the European Emigration Advisory Service (EEAS) European Emigration Advisory Service: Residency Guides | Blevins Franks

Double tax monitoring

The broader trend underpinning these developments is the increasing digitalisation of data. This is creating unprecedented transparency — not only in tracking the movement of people, but also in monitoring financial transactions.

But the impact of digitalisation is not limited to travel. Through frameworks such as Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and Exchange of Information provisions within double taxation treaties, authorities already have significant visibility over people's financial affairs.

Info sharing on property deals

Looking ahead, international cooperation is set to deepen further, as in late 2025 the OECD introduced a new agreement on exchange of information on property transactions.

Many countries, including the UK, have already committed to the initiative, expanding authorities' ability to access and share information on cross-border financial matters. This includes info on ownership, acquisition, disposal and rental income of property.

The first major 'data swaps' are scheduled to begin in 2029. But these swaps will also cover data for years before 2029. The initial data swap will include all pre-existing property holdings currently on a digital land registry.

Have your clients declared their foreign property ownership?

The key takeaway is simple — whether travelling or undertaking financial transactions, people should act on the assumption that authorities may ask questions, and increasingly, they may already hold the answers.

This is something that will only increase with the continued advancement of AI and data-sharing frameworks.

David Morley is head of wealth structuring at specialist expat financial advisers Blevins Franks