France: Annual renewal of Form 5000 and Form RPPM for tax relief on French dividend income - update
Note: This announcement originally published on 22 December 2017, has been updated to show a later deadline for the receipt of certificates in Clearstream Banking and the change of migration date for France. Changes are highlighted.
Important note: As a result of the migration of the French T2S eligible assets to Clearstream Banking AG (CBF) scheduled for 9 April 2018, the certification renewal process for 2018 will be different from previous years. Our goal is to ensure the proper taxation of all eligible beneficial owners at source upon registration of the appropriate certification in the context of the new structure. In order to achieve this, all customers of Clearstream Banking1 are requested to provide the renewed Forms 5000 and RPPM for each beneficial owner, at the latest by
16 March 2018
This announcement provides additional details to the information already published in Announcement A17174 dated 13 December 2017.
Form 5000 (Millesime 2017 – Cerfa*03)
Customers of Clearstream Banking1 are reminded that if they use the simplified procedure to apply for withholding tax from dividends (at source or via the quick refund process), they must provide a valid Form 5000 signed and dated in 2018. They must also certify the residence status of the beneficial owner for 2018 according to the existing procedure for non-resident beneficial owners whose country of residence has a Double Taxation Treaty (DTT) with France.
Customers are reminded that the most recent version of Form 5000 has to be used. Any preceding version received will automatically be rejected, as stated in Announcement A17150 dated 2 November 2017.
Important note: The Form 5000 must be dated before the first relevant dividend payment in 2018 and received by Clearstream Banking by the following deadlines:
- Renewal of Form 5000 (previously submitted for year 2017): no later than 09:00 CET 10 business days before the first dividend payment date to which it applies, and no later than 16 March 2018.
- First time submission of Form 5000: no later than 09:00 CET 10 business days before the first dividend payment in 2018 to which it applies.
Furthermore, it is strongly recommended to provide two original Forms 5000 for the same beneficial owner in order to cover the holdings in French T2S securities (settled via CBF) and potential holdings in non-T2S securities (settled via BP2S) as described in Announcement A17174 dated 13 December 2017.
We remind customers that these certificates will be registered in Clearstream Banking’s system by default as follows:
- The first Form 5000 for the post-migration T2S activity (submitted to CBF);
- The second Form 5000 for pre-migration events (payments processed between 1 January 2018 and 6 April 2018 inclusive) for securities not migrated in T2S (submitted to BP2S).
Customers wishing to use Form 5000 in a different way must instruct CBL accordingly in cover letter accompanying the originals, or by SWIFT message.
For beneficial owners that are covered by a DTT with France and are investment companies, or hold funds under an investment scheme
As the collective entitlement of such companies and funds to DTT benefits are limited to the proportion of their units/shareholders that are residents of their home country, that is, the country for which the DTT benefit is claimed, this percentage must be 100 in order to be eligible for the simplified procedure.
An eligible beneficial owner that is a collective investment scheme must, in most cases, fill in Box VII of Form 5000 to certify the percentage of shareholders eligible under the respective DTT during the accounting period in which there was a profit, that is, directly prior to the dividend payment period.
Note: The accounting period may not correspond to a calendar year, and so multiple Forms 5000 may be required. If Form 5000 signed by the local tax authorities is already in place for the calendar year, the newly submitted Form 5000 can be signed and dated by the beneficial owner or representative only, without a signature from the local tax authorities.
For certain entities for which a specific attestation was required by the French Tax Authorities (FTA)
Additional attestations used to be required from certain BOs in addition to Form 5000 in order to prove their taxability. With the latest version of form 5000, no separate attestation is needed any longer as it is included in BOX III of the form.
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 the beneficial owner’s country of residence will lead to a longer treatment of the form and to potential impossibility to offer the simplified procedure.
Please refer to Announcement A17150 for more details.
Form RPPM
For Collective Investment Vehicles (CIVs), relief at source from withholding tax is only granted upon submission of Form RPPM.
Form RPPM is valid until revoked for both UCITS and AIFs, however the forms provided in 2017 or earlier will have to be renewed in 2018 due to the migration of the French T2S eligible assets to CBF, as explained in Announcement A17174.
Further information
For further information about the withholding tax procedures for French equities, please refer to the Clearstream Banking Market Taxation Guide - France.
Customers may contact the Clearstream Banking Tax Help Desk or Clearstream Banking Client Services or their 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, registered office at 61, Mergenthalerallee, 65760 Eschborn, Germany and registered in Register B of the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, Germany under number HRB 7500.