Italy: Further clarifications on the validity of some certificates of residence issued by foreign tax authorities
Clearstream Banking1 would like to inform customers that clarifications made by the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) in October 2017, announced in A17134, resulted in a high number of complaints and questions related to the fiscal year that should be input by the local tax authorities on the certificates of residence (CORs).
To ensure that CORs are issued accordingly, the ITA recently published further clarifications on their website in the list of frequently asked questions. They confirmed that CORs delivered by the local tax authority must certify the residency of the beneficiary in accordance with the provisions of the double taxation treaty within the fiscal period or at the date of issuance of the COR.
Impact on customers
Based on the above clarifications, Clearstream Banking is currently compliant with these requirements, that is
- For relief at source and quick refund: the COR must be signed and stamped by the respective beneficial owner’s local tax authority on or after 1 January of the respective year and must be provided to Clearstream Banking before the first applicable payment date.
- For standard refund: the COR must cover the date of payment, meaning that it must be dated in the year of the dividend payment. If not, the local tax authorities must certify that the beneficial owner was effectively resident in the country concerned in the year of the dividend payment.
Further information
For further information, please refer to our Market Taxation Guide - Italy. Customers may also 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 (for Clearstream Banking AG customers using Creation Accounts), registered office at 61, Mergenthalerallee, 65760 Eschborn, Germany and registered in Register B of the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, Germany under number HRB 7500.