Reclaim withholding tax on dividends Third country claimants Financial Services KPMG Germany 2016
Content 1 German Withholding Tax on dividends violates EU-Law 2 Cash refund opportunity 3 Our services 4 Our Team 5 Fees 6 Other opportunity states 2
1. German Withholding Tax on dividends violates EU-Law Third country fund / corporation Third country (No-EU/EEA) Germany 26.375% WHT German Co 74,625 85 (DTT) Final tax burden: 26.375% 15% (if DTT applicable) German fund / corporation 100 (fund) 95 (corporation) WHT refund / exemption Gross dividend 100 German tax legislation German investment funds and pension funds receive full refund of WHT on dividends from German companies German corporations receive a tax exemption for the WHT on dividends from German corporations (only 0.8% effective tax burden due to flat Third country funds, pension funds and corporations are taxed with the full WHT rate tax burden 26.375%* DTT benefits may allow a reduction of the tax burden to the DTT rate of usually 15% * of the dividend amount! Obvious difference in treatment 3
2. Cash refund opportunity Reclaim potential 26.375% of the dividend amount 15% (if DTT applicable*) of the dividend amount *we offer our assistance for regular DTT relief filing as well (complete refund approach) 4
3. Our services Preliminary study Preliminary study of options (evaluation of entities and specific funds (inter alia, comparability analysis) and following advice Case by case analysis Claims will be based on cases analyzed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the EFTA Court and the EU-Commission Litigation Complete filing Case by case analysis Preliminary study We offer a wide scope of WHT refund services Complete Filing Filing the claims at the Central Tax Office and the competent local tax offices Litigation Litigation before the national Finance Courts and the ECJ 5
3. Our services Idee Preliminary study Case by case analysis Preliminary study Case by case analysis Preliminary study of options (evaluation of entities and specific funds (inter alia, comparability analysis) and following advice Litigation Complete filing Claims will be based on cases analyzed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the EFTA Court and the EU-Commission Case by case analysis Complete Filing Complete filing Preliminary study We offer a wide scope of WHT refund services Litigation Litigation Filing the claims at the Central Tax Office and the competent local tax offices Litigation before the national Finance Courts and the ECJ 6
3. Our services Idee Preliminary study Case by case analysis Preliminary study Preliminary study of options (evaluation of entities and specific funds (inter alia, comparability analysis) and following advice Case by case analysis Claims will be based on cases analyzed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the EFTA Court and the EU-Commission We offer a wide scope of WHT refund services Complete Filing Complete filing Litigation Litigation Filing the claims at the Central Tax Office and the competent local tax offices Litigation before the national Finance Courts and the ECJ 7
4. Our Team Extensive experience in assisting clients in filing witholding tax reclaims with German tax authorities for a great number of pension funds, investment funds, insurance companies, charities, government-owned organisations etc. Team-mix of dedicated Financial Services professionals and leading EU direct tax law specialists. 8
5. Fees One stop service and small all-in one fee (claim preparation) 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fees depend on number of funds / subfunds / claimed years Synergetic effects (number of claims prepared in the past, number of funds / subfunds of the same managing company) will be considered in favour of the client Due to long experience we provide a fee bearable by a client even in case of filing with a big number of tax offices KPMG litigation fees will be agreed individually test case (one pilot decision) possible Court fees depend on the claim value (advance payment repayment in case of success) required, 9
5. Fees Idee One stop service and small all-in one fee (claim preparation) Fees depend on number of funds / subfunds / claimed years Synergetic effects (number of claims prepared in the past, number of funds / subfunds of the same managing company) will be considered in favour of the client Due to long experience we provide a fee bearable by a client even in case of filing with a big number of tax offices KPMG litigation fees will be agreed individually test case (one pilot decision) possible Court fees depend on the claim value (advance payment required, repayment in case of success) 10
6. Other opportunity states Reclaim potential is not limited to Germany Reclaim potential in: France Netherlands Germany Finland Sweden Third countries See the following slides 11
6.1 Opportunity state France Third country fund / tax exempt vehicle 75 85 (DTT) French tax legislation Third country (No-EU/EEA) France Final tax burden: 25% 15% (if DTT applicable) French fund / tax exempt vehicle 100 French investment funds and tax exempt vehicles receive full refund of WHT on dividends from French companies. Third country investment funds and tax exempt vehicles (e.g. insurance companies) are taxed with the full WHT rate tax burden 25%. DTT benefits may allow a reduction of the tax burden to the DTT rate of usually 15%. 25 % WHT French Co WHT refund Gross dividend 100 Reclaim potential 25% or 15% (DTT rate) 12
6.2 Opportunity state Netherlands Third country fund / tax exempt vehicle 85 Netherlands tax legislation Third country (No-EU/EEA) Netherlands Final tax burden: 15% Dutch fund / tax exempt vehicle 100 Tax exempt Dutch investment funds and tax exempt vehicles (e.g. charities) receive full refund of WHT on dividends from Dutch companies. Third country funds / tax exempt vehicles (e.g. Sovereign wealth fund or charities) are taxed with the full WHT rate of 15%. 15% WHT WHT refund Dutch Co Gross dividend 100 Reclaim potential 15% 13
6.3 Opportunity state Finland Third country fund / pension fund Third country (No-EU/EEA) 72 85 (DTT) Final tax burden: 28% 15% (if DTT applicable) Finnish tax legislation Finnish investment funds receive full refund of WHT on dividends from Finnish companies. Finnish pension funds benefit from a partial exemption leading to an effective tax rate of 19.5% for WHT on dividends. Finland Finnish fund / pension fund 100 (fund) 80,5 (pens. fund) Third country funds / pension funds are taxed with the full WHT rate tax burden 28%. DTT benefits may allow a reduction of the the tax burden to the DTT rate of usually 15%. 28% WHT Finnish Co WHT refund / partial exemption Gross dividend 100 Reclaim potential 28% funds 8,5% (pens. funds) or 15% (DTT rate) 14
6.4 Opportunity state Sweden Third country fund / tax exempt vehicle EU/EEAcountry 70 85 (DTT) Final tax burden: 30% 15% (if DTT applicable) Swedish tax legislation Swedish investment funds usually receive a full deduction of WHT on dividends from Swedish companies. Swedish pension funds suffer no WHT on dividends from Swedish companies. Sweden Swedish fund / tax exempt vehicle 100 (fund) 80,5 (pens. fund) Swedish charities are under circumstances exempted from tax or entitled for a refund. Third country funds / pension funds / charities corporations are taxed with the full WHT rate tax burden 30%. DTT benefits may allow a reduction of the tax burden to the DTT rate of usually 15%. 30% WHT Swedish Co No tax, or refund of WHT Gross dividend 100 Reclaim potential 30% or 15% (DTT rate) 15
Your KPMG Contacts Andreas Patzner Partner, Financial Services T +49 69 9587 2696 F +49 69 9587 2329 apatzner@kpmg.com Jürgen Nagler Senior Manager, International Tax T +49 69 9587 2254 F +49 69 9587 2329 jnagler@kpmg.com Detlef Mann Senior Manager, International Tax T +49 69 9587 1143 F +49 69 9587 2329 detlefmann@kpmg.com www.kpmg.de www.kpmg.de/socialmedia Die enthaltenen Informationen sind allgemeiner Natur und nicht auf die spezielle Situation einer Einzelperson oder einer juristischen Person ausgerichtet. Obwohl wir uns bemühen, zuverlässige und aktuelle Informationen zu liefern, können wir nicht garantieren, dass diese Informationen so zutreffend sind wie zum Zeitpunkt ihres Eingangs oder dass sie auch in Zukunft so zutreffend sein werden. Niemand sollte aufgrund dieser Informationen handeln ohne geeigneten fachlichen Rat und ohne gründliche Analyse der betreffenden Situation. ( KPMG International ), einer juristischen Person schweizerischen Rechts, angeschlossen sind. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Der Name KPMG und das Logo sind eingetragene Markenzeichen von KPMG International.