Refund from Clearstream Banking - eligibility, documentation, deadlines - U.S. debt securities

01.04.2022

By default, any US taxable interest payment is subject to:

  • 30% FATCA1 tax rate if Clearstream Banking does not receive sufficient information/documentation to evidence that 30% FATCA should not be withheld at source, or
  • 30% NRA tax rate1, if Clearstream Banking received before the relief at source deadline sufficient information/documentation to evidence that 30% FATCA should not be withheld, but didn’t receive sufficient information/documentation evidencing that a tax exemption/reduced tax rate could have been granted at source, or
  • 24% back-up withholding tax if Clearstream Banking customer acting as a foreign intermediary
    • does not assume Form 1099 reporting and back-up withholding responsibility,
    • has certified an omnibus account (with a W-8IMY and OTC in its own name) confirming that it holds the US source debt securities solely on behalf of several U.S. specified persons for which a 1099 reporting is required,
    • has failed to furnish an IRS form W-9 in the name of the U.S. specified person(s) and/or per payment instruction at source

Who can apply for a refund2?

  • Refund of FATCA/NRA withholding tax (as applicable) on interests from U.S. debt securities is available through Clearstream Banking, provided that:
  1. Clearstream Banking’s direct customer is the final beneficial owner3 and a FATCA compliant non-U.S. recipient, or
  2. Clearstream Banking’s direct customer is a U.S. exempt person, or
  3. Clearstream Banking’s direct customer is a Qualified Intermediary (QI) that assumes primary nonresident alien (NRA) withholding responsibility and Form 1099 and back-up withholding responsibility (QIA), or
  4. Clearstream Banking’s direct customer is a QI that assumes primary NRA withholding responsibility but does not assume Form 1099 and back-up withholding responsibility (QIB), or
  5. Clearstream Banking’s direct customer
    • is a QI that does not assume primary NRA withholding responsibility, but that assumes Form 1099 and back-up withholding responsibility (QID) and
    • holds the U.S. source securities on behalf of FATCA compliant recipient being non-U.S. beneficial owners3 and/or US persons or
  6. Clearstream Banking’s direct customer
    • is a QI that does not assume primary NRA withholding responsibility nor Form 1099 and back-up withholding responsibility (QIC) and
    • holds the securities on behalf of FATCA compliant recipients being non-U.S. beneficial owners3 and/or US exempt persons and/or US specified persons in a payee pool and/or U.S. specified persons for which a 1099 reporting is required, or
  7. Clearstream Banking’s direct customer
  • is a FATCA compliant Non-Qualified Intermediary (NQI) and
  • holds the securities (either directly or indirectly via a an additional FACTA compliant NQI intermediary) on behalf of recipients that are FATCA compliant final beneficial owners3 and/or FATCA compliant QIs and/or US exempt recipient and/or US specified persons in a payee pool and/or U.S. specified persons for which a 1099 reporting is required
  • Refund of back-up withholding tax is not available through Clearstream Banking
  • Refund of withholding tax from the IRS is not available through Clearstream Banking

Documentation requirements

In order to benefit from a refund of FATCA/NRA withholding tax on interests from U.S. debt securities, customers must ensure to provide Clearstream Banking with the following documents (unless part of the documents were already provided to Clearstream Banking) within the applicable deadlines. The related templates of the documents are available on our Tax forms to use section.

For all customers applying for FATCA/NRA tax refund on interests from U.S. debt securities:

  • An IRS form (W-8IMY, W-8BEN-E, W-8EXP, W-8CI, W-9 – as applicable), in the name of the Clearstream Banking customer,
  • One-time certificate, in the name of the Clearstream Banking customer. Clearstream Banking customers may use the Decision table (see attached below)  in order to identify which template of the form matches their status and needs. Should Clearstream Banking customer not find any OTC matching their requirements, a specific request needs to be raised to our Tax Helpdesk.

In addition, for Clearstream Banking customers that are foreign intermediaries, the below additional documentation may have to be provided, depending on the Chapter 3 status of Clearstream Banking customer and the account structure selected in the One-time certificate. Such additional documentation is fully described in the relevant one-time certificate and may consist in:

  • An IRS form (W-8BEN-E, W-8EXP, W-8ECI, W-8BEN, W-9 – as applicable) in the name of the FATCA compliant non-U.S. beneficial owner(s) or U.S. exempt recipient or U.S. specified person
  • Per payment instruction for refund, fulfilling formatting requirements described under the section “Form description”.

Clearstream Banking deadline for refund applications

The deadline by which Clearstream Banking must receive the documentation for refund application is on 314 December of the year in which the applicable interest payment was made.  

Important note: Tax refunds are processed in the order received by Clearstream Banking and only when there are sufficient funds in Clearstream Banking internal tax account.

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1. Should the security be a grandfathered obligation, the default withholding tax rate is 30% non-resident alien tax

2. Tax refunds are processed in the order received by Clearstream Banking and only when there are sufficient funds in Clearstream Banking internal tax account.

3. Should the debt security not qualify for the ‘portfolio interest exemption’ (as defined in US Internal Revenue Code), the non-U.S. beneficial owner must also be resident in a country that has signed a DTT with the U.S.A.

4. Clearstream Banking may grant few additional days after the 31 December of the year in which the income was paid. Such extended deadline would be published to Clearstream Banking customers in a dedicated announcement and will always be set before Clearstream Banking’s deadline to pay the last tax deposit for the impacted calendar year to the IRS (according to IRS instructions)