The Revolut Feature That Triggers EU Tax Audits, 89% Lose

Let me translate the quiet part into plain English. The single Revolut “feature” that most often puts people on a tax authority’s radar is not a shiny button in the app. It is the automatic information exchange behind your Savings, Cash funds, and multi-currency accounts under the EU’s DAC2/CRS rules. When your Revolut accounts earn interest or simply exist with a balance, Revolut sends structured data to the tax authority of the country where you are tax resident. If your return does not match that data, the letter writes itself. Remember: the report is automatic. The mismatch is what triggers human attention.

About that “89 percent lose” line. It is a blunt headline, not an official pan-EU statistic. Regulators do not publish uniform win-loss tables for individual desk audits. What we can say with confidence is this: when a case is opened from DAC2/CRS data and your filing omits what the bank already reported, the burden of proof flips to you and most people end up paying something—tax due, interest, or a penalty—because the data trail is clean and your paperwork is not. The rest of this guide is how to keep your name out of that pile.

What Revolut actually reports about you

Under DAC2, all EU financial institutions report key fields for reportable persons to their domestic tax authority, which then forwards the file to the country of your tax residence. The payload is boring and devastatingly effective: your name, address, tax identification number, account number, year-end balance, and income categories like interest, dividends, and certain gross proceeds. Revolut’s own help pages confirm they collect and transmit CRS data, and national tax offices explain that the exchange is annual and automatic. Bottom line: if it exists as a number in the app, expect it to exist on a government server.

Two practical wrinkles:

• Savings and Cash products. Interest credited in the app appears in the DAC2 data stream. Revolut’s Savings Vaults terms explicitly warn that interest may be taxable and no tax certificates are issued for you. That means you must fetch statements and self-report the income in your return.
• Local withholding in some countries. In a few markets, Revolut indicates it may withhold tax on interest paid in Savings. Withholding does not always equal final tax. You still reconcile on your annual return. Declare the gross and credit the withholding where the law says to do so.

The three Revolut behaviours that generate audit letters

1) Reporting your tax residence one way and filing another.
Inside your profile there is a Tax residencies setting. If Revolut’s KYC says you are resident in Country A and you file in Country B or file nothing at all, the DAC2 file to Country A and the absence of a matching return is a red flag. Update your tax residency in-app the moment you move, and file where you actually live.

2) Earning interest in Savings or Cash funds and failing to declare it.
You see a tidy “interest paid” line. The authority sees it too. When the number does not appear on your annual return, the pre-assessment letter (“we have information that…”) is almost automatic. Revolut’s Savings PDF even says they do not provide tax certificates. That is a hint to download statements and do your math.

3) Treating Revolut as “offshore” and ignoring foreign-asset disclosures.
For residents of Spain and several other EU countries, accounts located abroad can trigger an additional information form when balances cross thresholds. In Spain, the well-known Modelo 720 applies to foreign accounts if totals exceed €50,000 in the relevant category. If your Revolut IBAN is Lithuanian or any non-Spanish IBAN and you cross the threshold, 720 obligations can apply. Many people only realise this after DAC2 data lands at the tax office and a nudge letter arrives.

“But I only used Revolut for crypto”

Two truths to hold at once. First, crypto activity already sits on the radar. You are expected to declare gains under current national rules. Second, the radar is getting louder. The EU’s new DAC8 will require crypto-asset service providers, including super-apps that offer crypto access, to report data on EU residents’ crypto transactions to tax authorities, with application from 2026. Even before DAC8 becomes effective, many tax offices are already requesting information or using AML data to profile flows. If you booked gains in Revolut’s crypto and did not declare, expect letters to get more precise. T

How the EU’s data feed turns into your audit

The pipeline is mechanical:

1. Revolut compiles annual CRS/DAC2 files and sends them to its home authority.
2. Your residence country receives your file through the EU exchange.
3. The authority matches your TIN and return.
4. If the balance or income lines in the feed do not line up with your filing, a desk review or pre-assessment letter is generated.
5. If you do not respond or you respond badly, assessment plus penalties follow.

EU guidance spells out that balances and income are reported, not only interest. People who assume “only interest matters” often forget that a reported foreign balance can independently trigger a disclosure form violation in some countries.

Spain example: how residents get tripped

Spain is a useful case because the rules are transparent and well enforced.

• CRS data lands at the AEAT.
• If you held a non-Spanish IBAN Revolut account and your foreign-assets category crossed €50,000, the Modelo 720 obligation can apply even if your income was small. If you never filed, DAC2 nudges often precede a review.
• Interest from Savings is taxable in Spain regardless of where it was paid. Revolut’s own pages make clear you may owe tax on interest and they will not prepare certificates for you. Report it as savings income.

What to download from Revolut before tax season

Open the app and grab these four things. Put them in a folder labelled “This saves me later.”

1. Annual account statements for every currency pocket that held funds.
2. Savings interest statement for each Savings or Cash product showing gross interest by calendar year.
3. Dividend and proceeds reports if you used stocks or funds in-app. (Even if DAC2 focuses on interest and balances, your domestic return needs the rest.)
4. Crypto transaction history if you touched crypto. DAC8 is coming and national rules already require you to declare gains.

Seven mistakes that turn a data feed into money owed

• Old residency in the app. You moved countries and never updated your Tax residencies field, so the wrong authority gets your data and “missing return” letters start. Fix the residency in-app immediately.
• Treating Savings like a piggy bank. Interest is income. The authority already has it. Declare it each year regardless of where it was paid.
• Thinking withholding equals finished. In some markets Revolut withholds on Savings. You still reconcile the gross in your return and credit the withholding if applicable.
• Ignoring foreign-asset disclosures. Crossing a threshold without filing information forms is its own offence, separate from income tax. Spain’s 720 is the classic trap.
• Using a personal account for business income. A stream of incoming client payments into a personal Revolut can wake up VAT and social security questions. Revolut’s business terms are explicit: business is for business. Your tax office reads flows the same way.
• Pretending crypto is invisible. It is not. Declare gains now. DAC8 makes the reporting explicit from 2026 forward.
• No archive. If you cannot reproduce your year from statements, the desk reviewer’s version wins.

A two-week clean-up plan if you are already out of sync

Week 1: Inventory and match

• Export all Revolut annual statements and Savings interest summaries for the last two tax years.
• Export crypto history if applicable.
• Confirm your Tax residencies in the app reflect current reality. Screenshot it.
• In Spain or similar regimes, check if you crossed foreign-asset thresholds that require an information return such as Modelo 720.

Week 2: File, amend, or voluntarily disclose

• Amend your return to include missing interest or asset disclosures before a letter arrives.
• If there is a genuine double-tax situation because of withholding, claim the credit properly.
• For crypto, prepare a clean gain/loss computation now. Do not wait for DAC8 to do it for you.

Frequently asked questions that come up in client calls

“Is Revolut really a foreign account if I live in Spain”
If your IBAN is not Spanish, it is foreign for disclosure rules like 720 when thresholds are crossed. If Revolut issues you a Spanish IBAN and the funds are with a Spanish-regulated entity, the 720 angle may fall away, but prior years with foreign IBANs do not vanish. Check both.

“What exactly does DAC2 send”
Account holder data, year-end balances, and income categories such as interest and certain gross proceeds. That is enough to match or mismatch your return in seconds.

“Will crypto be visible”
Crypto is already visible to the extent it is held with a regulated provider and you are investigated. Under DAC8, visibility becomes automatic reporting of crypto-asset activity for EU residents starting in 2026.

“Revolut withheld tax on my Savings. Am I done”
No. Withholding is a prepayment in some systems, not a final settlement. Declare the income and claim credits correctly.

“Revolut will send me a tax certificate, right”
No. Their Savings terms say they do not supply tax certificates. You must use statements and your local rules.

Scripts you can use with your accountant and your tax office

Accountant:
“I have Revolut accounts and Savings. Here are annual statements, gross interest by year, and my crypto history. Please ensure the return reconciles the CRS numbers and any foreign-asset disclosures if thresholds apply.”

Tax office, pre-assessment call:
“I have received a notice based on CRS data. I am filing an amended return that includes all Revolut interest and, where applicable, foreign-asset disclosures. Please note the attached statements and the withholding already applied on Savings.”

A short checklist to stay invisible to audit selection

• Update Tax residencies in the app when you move.
• Download annual statements every January and store them.
• Declare Savings interest annually, even if small.
• In Spain, assess Modelo 720 if non-Spanish IBAN balances cross €50,000.
• Keep crypto books clean and report gains. DAC8 is coming.
• Do not run business flows through a personal account.