Form descriptions - Relief at source - Estonian investment funds
The following is a list of information regarding the various tax forms to be completed in order to benefit from relief at source of withholding tax on income from Estonian investment funds. The templates of the forms are available in our Tax forms to use section.
One-Time Certificate
The One-Time Certificate must be completed and signed by the Clearstream Banking customer and remains valid until revoked.
How many are provided? | One per Clearstream Banking account. |
Who completes it? | Customer. |
How often is it provided? | Once. |
When is it provided? |
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Copy or original? | Original |
Breakdown of Holdings
If Box 3 was ticked in the One-Time Certificate, a per-payment Breakdown of Holdings, per tax residence and legal status of eligible beneficial owner, must in addition be provided via SWIFT (formatted MT565), or XACT WEB PORTAL message (please refer to Customer Handbook or announcement C18050 for full formatting requirements), containing all mandatory information:
- Your account number
- ISIN code
- Corporate Action ID;
- Clearstream Banking customer account number;
- Total number of shares or nominal value of securities held on the account;
- Number of shares held by legal persons and for which exemption of Estonian withholding tax is required.
- Tax rate to apply. To be specified in field 92a for SWIFT users or in the requested withholding tax rate for XACT users,
These declared positions must be accurate on the relevant record date indicated in Clearstream Banking’s tax notification at 19:00 CET, meaning that no further transactions are allowed after the submission of the Breakdown of Holdings. If there is a discrepancy between the declared positions and the customer’s total holding visible in Clearstream Banking’s books, the application for tax exemption will be rejected and, consequently, the maximum tax rate of 7% will be applied.
Furthermore, if Box 3 of the One-Time Certificate is ticked and Clearstream Banking receives no Breakdown of Holdings by the prescribed deadline, the customer’s total holding will be considered as being undisclosed and, as a consequence, the maximum standard tax rate of 7% will be applied.
Important Note: To obtain tax exemption at source, the identity of final beneficial owners being legal entities is not required. However, Clearstream Banking may be requested by the Estonian Authorities to disclose the identity of the beneficial owners and their respective holdings. In this case, customers must provide Clearstream Banking, promptly upon request at any time, with such information and any other tax documentation that may be requested from time to time.
How many are provided? | One per Clearstream Banking account. |
Who completes it? | Customer. |
How often is it provided? | Per each income payment. |
When is it provided? |
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Copy or original? | Via SWIFT (formatted MT565), or XACT WEB PORTAL message |
Certificate of tax residence and other supporting documentation
To comply with the requirements of the Estonian Tax Law, customers may be required to disclose the beneficial owners’ identity and holdings for any dividend event. Customers therefore undertake to provide Clearstream Banking, promptly upon request at any time, with such information as may be necessary to substantiate the accuracy of the relief at source request, including but not limited to and, if required:
- A valid proof of tax residence from the beneficial owner(s) for whom a relief at source has previously been applied; and
- Any other tax documentation requested from time to time