Luxembourg: Standard refund - Power of Attorney for Tax Reclaim Processes Follow-up and reminder of the process

27.07.2018

Following recent requests by the Luxembourgish Tax Authorities (LTA) to obtain additional details about reclaims submitted and especially on the legitimacy of Clearstream Banking1  to submit the reclaims on behalf of the beneficial owners, we have issued a new Power of Attorney (POA) to be signed by the final beneficial owners (BO) when asking for reclaim of tax.

Effective

immediately

the POA must be provided for every new reclaim request provided to Clearstream Banking. It may also be requested on a case by case basis for reclaims already filed if required by the LTA.

Background

Clearstream Banking receives more requests from the LTA to prove the validity of the reclaims submitted to them. The LTA have been stricter on the validation of the documentation provided and where there is doubt the treatment of the reclaims may be dramatically delayed.  

Impact on customers

To avoid delays in the refund of tax, customers are required to strictly follow the below procedure for standard refund.

Documentation to provide

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 Luxembourg Tax Authorities on the customer's behalf. This document is mandatory, if 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 Bankingonly 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 SA
      • IBAN account number: DE44500700100938225000
      • BIC: DEUTDEFF
      • Name and address of bank: DEUTSCHE BANK AG, FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY
    • Under box V of the form , stamp and signature of the Local tax Authorities are mandatory. Standalone Certificates of Residence are rejected by the LTA.
  • Power of Attorney for Tax Reclaim Processes Follow-up. This POA gives the necessary powers to Clearstream Banking to act on behalf of the BO to present the tax reclaim, process any necessary follow-up and receive the amount refunded. It must be signed by the final BO reclaiming the tax or by its representative. If signed by a representative, a POA between the BO and its representative must also be provided.
  • Power of Attorney. To be provided if the customer or a third party is completing the forms on behalf of the beneficial owner. In the presence of a custody chain, the full chain of POAs must be provided.
  • Credit Advice. It identifies the dividend payment details including the security type, gross amount of payment, date of payment and amount of tax withheld. The credit advice must reconcile with the information in the refund form. In presence of a custody chain, the full chain of credit advices must be provided. You have the possibility to request the Clearstream Credit Advice on the “Letter of Request to Clearstream Banking for Reclaim of Luxembourg Withholding Tax when sending a reclaim.

Important note: corrections/strikethrough 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 is at least two months before the statutory deadline which is usually no later than 31 December of the year following the one in which the dividend was paid. The Double Tax Treaty between Luxembourg and the country of residence of the beneficial owner may provide a deadline that is different from the one granted by the 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.