Portugal: Recommended deadline for reclaims of withholding tax
In our Announcement A08015, dated 18 January 2008, and as a result of the approved 2008 State Budget Law, we informed customers of changes applicable to the statutory deadline for filing standard refunds with the Portuguese Tax Authorities (PTA).
Portuguese tax law sets out different statutory deadlines for the submission of reclaims of withholding tax.
The PTA and Clearstream Banking’s1 depository, Banco Santander, apply different statutory deadlines for filing tax reclaim applications:
- According to Banco Santander, the applicable statutory deadline falls within the scope of Decree Law 193/2005 and is two years from the end of the year in which the tax payment was made to the PTA.
- According to the PTA, the applicable statutory deadline falls within the scope of the Portuguese Income Tax Code and is two years from the date on which the tax payment was made to the PTA.
Such discrepancy indicates that the PTA may consider, in effect, a shorter deadline than that foreseen under the above-mentioned Portuguese tax legislation.
In order to safeguard the interests of our customers and to avoid rejections of withholding tax reclaims by the PTA based on the above-mentioned discrepancy, we strongly recommend our customers to send all standard reclaims of tax withheld on income from Portuguese securities at the latest three months before the end of the two years after the date on which the income was paid.
N.B.: When rejecting a withholding tax reclaim, the PTA send a letter addressed directly to the beneficial owner and it is the responsibility of the beneficial owner, as sole recipient of the letter, to act upon it within the deadline stated therein.
Customers should therefore remind beneficial owners of the importance of providing a complete and accurate mailing address on their withholding tax reclaim forms.
Interim handling
Tax reclaims received after the PTA deadline but before the Banco Santander deadline will still be forwarded to Banco Santander.
Customers should be aware that, in some cases, the PTA have considered, in their calculation of the entitlement to reclaim, the accrued interest period for the reclaiming beneficial owner (as indicated in its tax reclaim form). Beneficial owners who disagree with the amount that the PTA proposes to pay can start a procedure of appeal through their lawyers.
Note: It is the customer's responsibility to determine any entitlement to a refund of tax withheld, to complete the forms required correctly and to calculate the amount due.
With respect to tax reclaims in general, customers are reminded that Clearstream Banking accepts no responsibility for their acceptance or non-acceptance by the tax authorities of the respective country.
Important note
This Announcement, which does not relate to securitised bonds, is provided for general information purposes only. The information contained herein is not intended to provide professional legal advice and should not be relied upon in that regard. Appropriate professional and/or Portuguese legal advice should be sought where necessary before taking any action based on the information contained in this Announcement.
We have based this Announcement on information that has been obtained from various sources but has not been independently verified. Clearstream Banking makes no guarantees, representations or warranties and accepts no responsibility or liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the information. Under no circumstances will Clearstream Banking be liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on any opinion, advice or statement made in this document, which is subject to change without notice.
Further information
For further information, customers may contact the Clearstream Banking Tax Help Desk on:
| Luxembourg | Frankfurt | |
| Email: | tax@clearstream.com | tax@clearstream.com |
| Telephone: | +352-243-32835 | +49-(0) 69-2 11-1 3821 |
| Fax: | +352-243-632835 | +49-(0) 69-2 11-61 3821 |
or Clearstream Banking Customer Service or their Relationship Officer.
1. Clearstream Banking refers collectively to Clearstream Banking AG, registered office at 61, Mergenthalerallee, 65760 Eschborn, Germany and registered in the Register B of the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, Germany under number HRB 7500 (CBF) and Clearstream Banking, société anonyme, 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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