Germany: (Re-)Activation of the electronic transfer of refund applications service for taxpayers with restricted tax liability
Further to Announcement C22029 and D22045, Clearstream Banking1 informs clients of the reactivation of the service to support our clients in terms of tax reclaim requests to the German tax Authorities as from
immediately
Background
As previously announced, the legal obligation to submit refund applications in paper form ended on 30 September 2023.
With immediate effect, clients will be able to file through Clearstream Banking your standard withholding tax refund requests to which the beneficial owner (BO) is entitled by virtue of the Double Taxation Treaty between Germany and the country of residence of the beneficial owner with a statutory deadline on 31 December 2025 and beyond.
Impact on clients
To file claims, clients are asked to electronically provide the following documents:
- Letter of Request to Clearstream Banking for Reclaim of German Withholding Tax, to instruct general information on the dividend payment(s) and refund(s) to be claimed.
- Instruction Excel file with the required tax data per request. The file can contain data regarding multiple beneficial owners, payments and income years. For further guidance on how to use or fill in the Instruction Excel file, please refer to the respective documentation.
- Sample of the German Tax Authorities of a Certificate of Residence (Ansässigkeitsbescheinigung). To be valid to be used to reclaim tax, this form should be used or at least the respective information as mentioned on the form should be provided by the beneficial owner.
- Power of Attorney for Tax Matters (POA) from the beneficial owner to the Authorised Representative (in this case Clearstream Banking Frankfurt AG). The POA will be based on the template provided by the German Tax Authorities. The POA will be valid only for the year the beneficial owner wants to reclaim income tax. This is to be mentioned in the respective section of the POA template. The POA needs to be provided by the beneficial owner (ultimate recipient of the income) or a direct or indirect authorized representative of the beneficial owner, authorized to grant sub-power of attorney to Clearstream. In case the POA is not directly signed by the beneficial owner, such representations need to be reflected on the POA provided to Clearstream. Upon request, the client will provide full proof of the (sub-) power of attorney. Clearstream recommends providing copies of these documents already along the tax reclaim request. Clearstream cannot be held liable for any loss, delay or other disadvantage resulting from any document, information (provided in written or verbally) or act of the client including the POA and the power to act on behalf of the beneficial owner. The client will hold harmless Clearstream for any loss resulting from any document, information (provided in written or verbally) or act of the client including the POA and the power to act on behalf of the beneficial owner.
- Tax voucher provided by Clearstream and available via a dedicated request in KADI / Xact.
- Signed Data Processing Agreement (“DPA”) according to Article 28 General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”)
- Clearstream Banking AG Technical and Organizational Measures. For your files and information only.
Clearstream Banking must receive the complete and correct set of your data related to refund two months before the statutory deadline ends. For Germany this is normally the 31 October of each calendar year.
Provided that the required tax reclaim certification is complete and valid, all standard refund applications received after the Clearstream Banking deadline will be processed on a "best effort" basis. However, in such cases, Clearstream Banking can accept no responsibility for documentation that has not reached the local tax authorities before the market deadline.
Note: Clients are reminded that Clearstream Banking will not assume any responsibility for the acceptance or non-acceptance of refund applications by the BZSt. It is the client’s responsibility to determine any entitlement to a refund of tax withheld, to correctly complete the required forms and to calculate the amount due.
Where to send the tax reclaims
- Clients are kindly requested to send their data in password secured zip format to germantaxreclaims@clearstream.com
- Subject line should be as following: “GTR_YEAR OF INCOME_CB Client account name_CB Client name_DATE OF SUBMISSION_swift reference”.
For example: “GTR_2021_1234_XYZ AG_01/09/2025_SWIFT ID :20://SEME:” - Furthermore, clients are requested to send the password via dedicated swift message MT599 or MT568.
Further information
For further information, please contact the Clearstream Banking Tax Help Desk, Clearstream Banking Client Services or your 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.