General information - types of securities, deadlines, other market specifics - France - CFCL
Reference
Types of securities
The eligible Vestima Fund Securities issued in France are as follows:
Investment funds:
Dividend payments made by the following entities are eligible for standard refund only:
- French Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITSs), including Sociétés d'Investissement à Capital Variable (SICAV) and Fonds Communs de Placement (FCP);
- Sociétés de Capital Risque (SCR);
- Sociétés de Développement Régional (SDR);
- Sociétés Immobilières pour le Commerce et l'Industrie (SICOMI)
- ETFs.
Types of beneficial owner
The following types of beneficial owners are recognised for tax purposes in France:
- Residents of Double Taxation Treaty (DTT) countries;
- Foreign individuals;
- Foreign Collective Investment Vehicles (CIVs);
- EU parent companies;
- Not-for-Profit Organisations;
- Foreign exempt entities;
- Particular foreign entities;
- French residents (direct clients of Clearstream Fund Centre).
Beneficial owners holding Vestima fund securities are not eligible for relief at source and quick refund, but only eligible to standard refund.
Statutory deadline for reclaiming withholding tax
For clients claiming domestic law rates:
The statutory deadline for reclaiming withholding tax is two years after the end of the calendar year in which the interest payment was made.
For clients claiming DTT rates:
Unless otherwise stipulated in the tax treaty, the statutory deadline for reclaiming withholding tax is two years after the end of the calendar year in which the interest payment was made.
Exceptions to the above are reclaim applications for beneficial owners that are residents of the following countries, as indicated:
Zimbabwe | three (3) years after the income payment date; |
India | three (3) years after the end of the calendar year in which the interest was paid; |
Netherlands | three (3) years after the end of the calendar year in which the interest was paid; |
Germany | four (4) years after the end of the calendar year in which the interest was paid. |
Clearstream deadline for standard refund applications
The deadline by which Clearstream Fund Centre must receive the documentation for an application is at the latest two months before the statutory deadline. All reclaim applications received after this deadline will be processed by Clearstream Fund Centre on a “best efforts” basis. However, in such cases, Clearstream Fund Centre will apply an extra charge and accepts no responsibility for forms that have not reached the French Tax Authorities by the date considered to be the statute of limitations deadline.
When are refunds received?
The estimated time for receiving a refund is from six months to two years, depending on the time that the application is filed and the complexity of the information supplied in the reclaim form.
Clearstream Fund Centre does not guarantee the accuracy of the timings presented.
Notes on tax reclaims
Clients warrant the completeness and accuracy of the information they supply to Clearstream Fund Centre.
It is the client's responsibility to determine any entitlement to a refund of tax withheld, to complete the forms required correctly and to calculate the amount due. Clearstream Fund Centre is under no obligation to carry out any investigation in respect of such information.
With respect to tax reclaims in general, clients are reminded that Clearstream Fund Centre accepts no responsibility for their acceptance or non-acceptance by the tax authorities of the respective country.
Market specifics
For all Market specifics information, please refer to our website.