France: New version of Forms 5000 and 5001 – update
Further to our Taxflash T17021 of 15 May 2017 and following our investigation with the French Tax Authorities (FTA) and our local depository, we recently received clarification about the changes to the new version of Forms 5000 and 5001 (reference CERFA 12816*03 ).
Effective
immediately
customers of Clearstream Banking1 must provide the new versions of forms 5000 and 5001 completed following the process below.
Background
In May 2017, Clearstream Banking was informed that the forms 5000 and 5001 and their related explanatory notice were amended by the FTA.
The main changes to these forms are:
Form 5000
Amendment of section “II) Beneficiary”
- to indicate the legal form of the beneficiary claiming the tax treaty benefits. This legal form was already requested by Clearstream Banking from its customers, following recommendations from the FTA, but there was no specific field for this information. It is now officially required on the form in the field “Occupation”.
- to indicate an email address.
Amendment of section “III) Beneficiary’s declaration”
- a sentence has been added (third bullet point) where the beneficial owner certifies that, due to its legal form or business activity and as per the tax laws of its country of residence, it is subject to tax on its worldwide income including French-sourced dividends.
Form 5001
Amendment of section “I) Declaration of recipient applying for the parent company system”
- the sworn attestation of EU-parent companies, page 1 of form 5001, has been updated to include the updated eligibility criteria, as informed in announcement A16112 on 21 July 2016.
Impact on customers
Effective immediately, any new form 5000 or 5001 provided to Clearstream Banking for the purpose of obtaining relief at source through the simplified procedure or for claiming a refund of tax must be the latest version CERFA 12816*03 (Millesime 2017).
The FTA clarified that version CERFA 12816*02 (Millesime 2016) will be accepted on an exceptional basis until 31 December 2017, however as of 1 January 2018 they will be strictly rejected.
Form 5000 - How to complete the amended sections
Section “II) Beneficiary”:
- Beneficial owners are required to clearly mention their legal form. We remind you that it is recommended to avoid using “Legal entity” or “investment fund”.
- The email address is not a mandatory field.
Section “III) Beneficiary’s declaration”:
Even though the new statement under the third bullet point is not mandatory for all types of beneficial owners depending in their legal form and country of residence (please refer to the footnotes 4, 5 and 6) Clearstream Banking requires this section III to be fully completed by all beneficial owners.
The non-completion of this attestation of being subject to tax in its country of residence will lead to a longer treatment of the form and to potential impossibility to offer the simplified procedure.
Important note: this new statement under section III, when duly completed, will replace the separate tax attestation requested to confirm the taxability of the concerned beneficial owners.
Form 5001
Qualified EU-parent companies wishing to benefit from tax exemption on dividends distributed by their French subsidiaries must provide Clearstream Banking with the new version of form 5001. Note that the old version has not been acceptable since June 2017.
Deadlines for receipt of the forms 5000 and 5001
The deadlines for receipt of forms 5000 and 5001 for the benefit of the simplified procedure or standard refund have not changed and can be found in our Market Taxation Guide – France.
Be reminded that, as of 1 January 2018, only the CERFA 12816*03 (Millesime 2017) will be accepted and other versions, even if provided by the prescribed deadline will be automatically and strictly rejected.
Further information
For further information, please contact the Clearstream Banking Tax Help Desk, Clearstream Banking Client Services or your 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.