Luxembourg: Standard refund – additional documentation required by the Luxembourg Tax Authorities
Following recent requests by the Luxembourg Tax Authorities (LTA) to obtain additional details about reclaims submitted, Clearstream Banking1 hereby informs its customers of additional documentation required from the final beneficial owners when filing tax reclaims.
Effective
immediately
a bank statement evidencing the dividend payment to the bank account of the final beneficial owner must be provided for every new reclaim request made to Clearstream Banking. A power of attorney (PoA) must bear a date not older than the year of payment of the dividend. A bank statement or new PoA may also be requested on a case-by-case basis for reclaims already filed, if required by the LTA.
Background
In its recent handling of tax reclaims, the LTA informed customers that the chain of Credit Advices is no longer enough to prove payment of the dividend to the final beneficial owner.
The LTA consider that a bank statement must be provided in addition to the usual reclaim documentation to prove the actual credit of the dividend to the final beneficial owner’s bank account.
It was also specified that the PoAs provided must be dated the year of the distribution of the dividend or year of the reclaim.
Clearstream Banking already received requests on certain refunds under review by the LTA. It is expected that other refund requests pending with the LTA will also need to be completed with additional bank statements or valid PoAs. Each customer concerned will then be informed by SWIFT of the additional documentation to be provided and of the deadline prescribed by the LTA.
For new refunds not yet filed to Clearstream Banking, it is recommended that customers become acquainted with the updated refund procedure described below.
Impact on customers
To avoid delays in the refund of tax, customers are required to strictly follow the procedure below for standard refunds.
Documentation to be provided
Customers are required to provide the following documentation, in original, by the prescribed deadline:
- Letter of request to Clearstream Banking for reclaim of Luxembourg withholding tax that authorises Clearstream Banking to reclaim withholding tax from the LTA on the customer's behalf. This document is mandatory; if it is missing, the reclaim file will be rejected.
- Form 901bis - Claim for reduction or partial refund of withholding tax, available from the website of the LTA:
- Each claim form consists of four copies. Clearstream Banking only needs to receive the “2e exemplaire/2nd sheet” for the Luxembourg Tax Administration; the other copies must be kept by the entity mentioned on the upper right-hand side of the form.
- Under box III of the form, customers must complete Clearstream Banking’s payment details as follows:
- Account holder: Clearstream Banking S.A.
- IBAN account number: DE44500700100938225000
- BIC: DEUTDEFF
- Name and address of bank: DEUTSCHE BANK AG, FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY
- Under box V of the form, the stamp and signature of the local tax authorities are mandatory. Stand-alone certificates of residence will be rejected by the LTA.
- PoA for tax reclaim processes follow-up. This PoA gives the necessary powers to Clearstream Banking to submit the tax reclaim on behalf of the beneficial owner, process any necessary follow-up, and receive the amount refunded. It must be signed, stamped or provided on the company’s letterhead (if a legal entity), and dated the year of the distribution of the dividend or year of the claim, by the final beneficial owner reclaiming the tax or by its legal representative. If signed by a legal representative, a PoA between the beneficial owner and its representative must also be provided.
- PoA: To be provided if the customer or a third party is completing the forms on behalf of the beneficial owner. If there is a custody chain, the full chain of PoAs must be provided. All PoAs must be signed, stamped or provided on the company’s letterhead (if a legal entity), and dated the year of distribution of the dividend or year of the claim.
- Credit Advice. This identifies the dividend payment details, including the security type, gross amount of payment, date of payment and amount of tax withheld. The information in the Credit Advice must correspond to that in the refund form. If there is a custody chain, the full chain of Credit Advices must be provided. Customers can request the Clearstream Credit Advice in the Letter of Request to Clearstream Banking for Reclaim of Luxembourg Withholding Tax when sending a reclaim.
- Bank statement from the final beneficial owner. This proves payment of the dividend on the date of distribution to the bank account of the final beneficial owner claiming the tax refund.
Important note: Corrections and/or strike-throughs on any documents being submitted are not allowed and are grounds for immediate rejection.
Deadline for receiving the documentation
Clearstream Banking must receive the documentation for a standard refund application at least two months before the statutory deadline, which is usually no later than 31 December of the year following that in which the dividend was paid. The double taxation treaty between Luxembourg and the country of residence of the beneficial owner may provide for a deadline that is different from the usual one prescribed by domestic law.
Further information
Please refer to our Market Taxation Guide – Luxembourg for more details, such as the eligibility criteria.
For further information, customers may contact the Clearstream Banking Tax Help Desk or Clearstream Banking Client Services or their Relationship Officer.
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1. Clearstream Banking refers collectively to Clearstream Banking S.A., registered office at 42, avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, and registered with the Luxembourg Trade and Companies Register under number B-9248, and Clearstream Banking AG, registered office at 61, Mergenthalerallee, 65760 Eschborn, Germany, and registered in Register B of the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under number HRB 7500.