Germany: Reminder : Tax Voucher process and tax reclaim processing requirements
Further to our Announcement L12024, dated 25 July 2012, regarding the implementation of OGAW-IV Umsetzungsgesetz (UCITS IV Directive), we would like to remind customers of the requirements for tax reclaim processing and the German tax voucher application process and how customers can request German tax vouchers in Clearstream Banking1.
Documentation requirements
Important note:
From 2012, a tax voucher is required for a tax reclaim with the Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern – BZSt). Each Clearstream Banking customer eligible for the benefits of a Double Taxation Treaty (DTT) needs a German single tax voucher “Official template III” (physical paper) when reclaiming taxes on income from German securities.
In order to apply for a standard refund of withholding tax, the following documents must be submitted to Clearstream Banking by the prescribed deadlines:
- Claim for Refund of German Withholding Taxes on Dividends and/or Interest;
- Power of Attorney;
- Tax Voucher for dividend payments since 1 January 2012;
- Credit advice for dividend payments up to 31 December 2011;
- Letter of Request to Clearstream Banking for Reclaim of German Withholding Tax;
- One-Time Customer Declaration (version 2012) - see attachment.
Additional documentation requirements and German Tax Vouchers
The German Tax Authorities (GTA) have published a directive from the Federal Ministry of Finance (Bundesministerium für Finanzen – BMF) to the BZSt describing additional tax reclaim requirements to prevent unjustified reclaims of withholding tax on dividends from shares acquired over the dividend ex-date.
Upon request of the BZSt, non-residents must document when they acquired the shares and provide additional information and documentation.
Note: It is not stated in the directive when BZSt will request additional information, in what form and/or document type it should be presented, or by what medium it must be submitted.
The GTA have not fully clarified the impact on the tax reclaim process for non-German investors.
If the applicant/end investor is a funds company, the BZSt will require a Resident Entitlement Questionnaire in respect of confirmation of shareholder percentage distribution for tax reclaims.
The BZSt has made the questionnaire available in German only but will accept an English version if the translation has the same content and wording as the original German version. German and English versions of this questionnaire are available in Tax Forms to use - Germany.
BZSt will request the additional information by sending a separate letter of request or with the (preliminary) official notification.
Tax vouchers are only created at the request of the customer. Before making such request, the customer must submit a signed One-Time Customer Declaration.
Clearstream Banking may only issue tax vouchers if there is sufficient existing “voucher contingent” per event for the customer. The contingent is the sum of settled positions on entitlement date plus all market claims, sales and purchases compensated by Clearstream Banking in the market claim period.
Accordingly, a continuous check of the voucher contingent is required at customer single-account level. The total amount of issued tax vouchers and outstanding requests must not exceed the total amount of taxes paid. If the voucher contingent is exhausted, no further vouchers will be created and every subsequent open application will (until the voucher contingent is renewed) be answered with a rejection letter.
Please refer to the details in the Market Taxation Guide - Germany.
Application for a tax voucher
The Clearstream Banking customer can file an application for a single tax voucher (“Einzelsteuerbescheinigung”) with respect either to their own assets or to those of their client.
An application for a German tax voucher with respect to a Clearstream Banking customer’s assets must normally be made via electronic upload of a data file in the name of beneficial owner/end-investor of the capital income (see Upload BO List on the Clearstream website).
Tax vouchers are issued after the completion of the market claims process (20 business days after payment date). The fee for the issuance of a German tax voucher is set out in the Clearstream Banking Fee Schedule in effect at the relevant time.
If the tax amount to be certified in the tax voucher(s) requested by a Clearstream Banking customer (on their own behalf or on behalf of their client(s)) exceeds the amount of the tax actually deducted for an event, Clearstream Banking will reject the application for a tax voucher.
Please refer to the details in the Market Taxation Guide - Germany.
Furthermore, the current Recovery Directive Implementation Act (Beitreibungsrichtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz ("BeitrRLUmsG")) provides for an accumulative tax voucher (“Sammelsteuerbescheinigung“) used in the context of the refund, by the domestic credit institution and ultimate custodian, of withholding tax that has been retained twice (if given). The application for such a voucher may only be filed for shares that were acquired “cum-dividend“ and delivered “cum-dividend“ (that is, so-called “cum-cum-constellation”; “cum-ex-trades“ are not covered).
Clearstream Banking treats an accumulative tax voucher like a single tax voucher. The application for an accumulative tax voucher suspends the issuance of a single tax voucher (including the forwarding of the application for a single tax voucher) for taxes retained on the same capital income. CBF will issue accumulative tax vouchers according to the legal requirements and will mark each accumulative tax voucher as such.
The Clearstream Banking customer must specify the application for a German tax voucher as one of the following:
- Application for a single tax voucher:
- Derived Official Template I (“PV”) from the GTA for personal assets (Privatvermögen) - to be used for private individuals subject to tax in Germany for their tax assessment with the local tax office; or
- Official Template III (“BV”) from the GTA for funds from business capital (Betriebsvermögen) - to be used for non-private individuals subject to tax in Germany for their tax assessment with the local tax office or for investors not subject to tax in Germany for reclaiming tax based on a DTT with the central tax office Bundeszentralamt für Steuern “BZSt” (see details “Examples of German Tax Vouchers” in the Market Taxation Guide - Germany).
- Derived Official Template I (“PV”) from the GTA for personal assets (Privatvermögen) - to be used for private individuals subject to tax in Germany for their tax assessment with the local tax office; or
- Application for an accumulative tax voucher:
- Official Template IV (“SB”) from the GTA (see details “Examples of German Tax Vouchers” in the Market Taxation Guide - Germany) only for German depository banks with positions in non-domestic depository chain.
In letter IV C 1 - S 2401/08/10001:007 (DOK 2011/1041094) from 29 December 2011, the German Ministry of Finance (MoF) published the final draft of the accumulative tax voucher, requiring that it show the following:
- The original date of request by the German depository that applied for the accumulative tax voucher; and
- The name and address of any other subcustodian(s), the Clearstream Banking customer being the first subcustodian in the depository chain.
Note: If the Clearstream Banking customer does not specify the type of request as for a single or accumulative tax voucher with regard to the template to be used, then Clearstream Banking must assume that application is made for a single tax voucher for an investor not subject to tax in Germany for reclaiming tax based on a DTT with the central tax office (Official Template III - “BV”).
In the case of an application for an accumulative tax voucher (Official Template IV - “SB”), Clearstream Banking assumes that the day of the data file transfer or date of issuance of the application form is the date of application of the German depository that asked for the accumulative tax voucher.
Before the customer’s first request to issue a German tax voucher, the customer must sign the One-Time Customer Declaration (version 2012). All customer declarations provided before 2012 and the implementation of the UCITS IV directive must be replaced immediately.
It is the customer’s responsibility to check and order the correct tax voucher; Clearstream Banking is not in a position to check whether the chosen tax voucher template is the correct one.
Special reclaim process for German accumulation funds
The applicant must reclaim, by accumulation of funds under the same tax voucher, through two different channels:
- With regard to the domestic dividend part (inländischer Dividendenanteil), through the Federal Central Tax Office “BZSt”; and
- With regard to the interest part (Zinsanteil), through the fund company or fund management company (Kapitalanlagegesellschaft).
In such cases, it has been agreed, between the responsible department in the BZSt (St III 3) and the responsible supervisory department in the German MoF (BMF IV B 3), that the applicant can request, without need of a form, that the BZSt return the original tax voucher, which the BZSt will do before the completion of the application processing.
Special reclaim process for German ADRs
A reclaim of withholding tax on German American Depository Receipts (ADRs) is available if the beneficial owner qualifies for the benefit of a reduced rate of withholding tax in accordance with a DTT between its country of residence and Germany.
A tax voucher is required for a tax reclaim with the BZSt. Following decree IV C 1 - S 2204/12/10003 DOK 2013/0457359 of 24 May 2013 by the German MoF, the German Tax Voucher (template III) can only be issued by the "Hinterlegungsbank" (depository bank) of the underlying German security.
Clearstream Banking is not a "Hinterlegungsbank" in this context. The ADR holder must request, via the ADR agent in the depository chain, a single tax voucher from the respective “Hinterlegungsbank“. Clearstream Banking can only forward such request to its depository bank for German ADRs.
Based on the fact that a payment on a German ADR will be taxed a second time when a German depository bank distributes such payment to its customers, the processing for German depository banks to request a “Sammel-Steuerbescheinigung” / accumulative tax voucher (Official Template IV - “SB”) to avoid the double taxation will be the same as for German securities in a foreign depository chain. See decree IV C 1 - S 2401/08/10001 :007 DOK 2013/0848438 of 16 September 2013 by the German MoF.
Further information
For further information, customers may contact the Clearstream Banking Tax Help Desk on:
| Luxembourg | Frankfurt | Singapore | |
| Email: | tax@clearstream.com | tax@clearstream.com | tax@clearstream.com |
| Telephone: | +352-243-32835 | +49-(0) 69-2 11-1 3821 | +65-6597-1665 |
| Fax: | +352-243-632835 | +49-(0) 69-2 11-61 3821 |
or Clearstream Banking Customer Service or their Relationship Officer.
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1. Clearstream Banking refers collectively to 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 (CBF) and Clearstream Banking S.A., registered office at 42, avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, and registered with the Luxembourg Register of Commerce and Companies under number B-9248 (CBL).
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