Quick refund - eligibility, documentation, deadlines - Italian equities
Who can apply for a quick refund?
A quick refund of withholding tax on dividends from Italian equities is available through Clearstream Banking for eligible beneficial owners who did not obtain relief at source, as follows:
| Eligible beneficial owners | Effective rate of tax after refund | Tax refund available a |
Residents of a Double Taxation Treaty (DTT) country | Tax treaty rate or 26%, whichever is lower | 26% minus the tax treaty rate b |
EU/EEA corporations | 1.20% c | 24.80% |
EU/EEA pension funds | 11% | 15% |
EU/EEA collective investment vehicles (CIV) | 0% | 26% |
Supranational organisations recognised as such by Italian law | 0% | 26% |
a. Expressed as a percentage of the gross dividend amount.
b. Amount of relief will be 0% if the DTT rate exceeds 26%.
c. 1.375% until 31 December 2016, 1.20% as of 1 January 2017.
Documentation requirements
The documentation requirements are the same for all types of beneficial owner.
- One-Time Certificate for Italian Equities;
- One-Time Master Instruction/Dividends at Source (O.T.M.I.);
- Certificate of Residence (except for Supranational organisations);
- Italian Equities: List of Beneficial Owners.
- Self-certification (for EU/EEA collective investment vehicles)
- Copies of documentation evidencing the identity of the representative or management company
Form descriptions are presented according to the procedures available for relief and/or reclaim of withholding tax on income from Italian equities.
Deadline for receipt of documents
The deadline for reclaiming withholding tax using the quick refund procedure through Clearstream Banking is 10:00 CET on the eighth calendar day (or the last business day before the eighth if the latter is not a business day) of the month following the month in which the dividend payment took place.
When are refunds received?
The estimated time for receiving a quick refund is the tenth calendar day of the month following the month in which the dividend payment took place.