Belgium: Foreign companies holding a “qualifying” participation - standard refund procedure
Further to our announcement A16046, originally published on 18 March 2016 and updated on 24 May 2016, effective
immediately
foreign companies holding a “qualifying” participation that do not participate in the relief at source or quick refund procedures now have the possibility to obtain a reduced tax rate of 1.6995% or full exemption through the standard refund procedure.
Standard refund procedure
Beneficial owners fulfilling the eligibility criteria, as described in Announcement A16046, and wishing to apply to the standard refund procedure have to provide the following certification within the prescribed deadlines, as listed below.
Certification requirements
- Self-declaration signed by the beneficial owner, that is:
- Self-declaration for reduced dividend withholding tax rate of 1.6995%; or
- Self-declaration for exemption of dividend withholding tax (both forms are available on our Tax Forms to use – Belgium page).
- Full chain of original Credit Advices provided for each standard refund application by each intermediary between the final beneficial owner and Clearstream Banking1;
- Power of Attorney from the final beneficial owner;
- Power of Attorney from the Clearstream Banking customer; and
- Letter of request to Clearstream Banking for Reclaim of Belgian withholding tax; and
For reclaims higher than EUR 200,000:
- A copy of the Credit Advice from the previous dividend payment, if received by the same beneficial owner;
- Statement of transactions for reclaims values over EUR 200,000.
Deadline for receipt of documents
The statutory deadline for reclaiming withholding tax is five years as of 1 January of the year in which the tax withheld was remitted to the Belgian Treasury. For example, payment of 15 March 2012 - deadline 31 December 2016.
The deadline by which Clearstream Banking must receive the documentation for an application is, at the latest, two months before the relevant statutory deadline.
All refund applications received after this deadline will be processed by Clearstream Banking on a “best efforts” basis but, in such cases, Clearstream Banking will apply an extra charge. Clearstream Banking accepts no responsibility for forms that have not reached the Belgian Tax Authorities by the date considered as being the statute of limitations deadline.
Further information
For further information, please contact the Clearstream Banking Tax Help Desk or Clearstream Banking Client Services or your 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, and 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.