What is FASTER?
FASTER (Council Directive (EU) 2025/50) is a new EU regulation requiring all member states to implement fast, safe, and standardized relief of excess withholding taxes on cross-border dividends and interest. It mandates digital, privacy-respecting solutions for tax residency and beneficial ownership verification.
How Helix Realizes FASTER
- Electronic Tax Residency Certificate (eTRC): Helix enables every tax office to issue digital, zk-verifiable certificates, proving tax residency without exposing personal data.
- Beneficial Ownership Proofs: Financial intermediaries report and prove ownership using zk-proofs, ensuring only the necessary information is shared for compliance.
- Privacy-first Data Exchange: All compliance and reporting flows are built on zero-knowledge cryptography, so institutions can verify what they need—without ever seeing your private financial data.
- Open Source Commons: Helix is public infrastructure, not owned by any single government or company, but by the community.
Why zk for FASTER?
Zero-knowledge (zk) cryptography allows Helix to deliver compliance and transparency without sacrificing privacy. Citizens and institutions can prove what's required—tax residency, beneficial ownership, and more—without revealing sensitive details. This is the foundation for a new era of digital public administration.