Poland: Tax reclaim procedure for payments made before 15 May 2012

Following our Announcement A12087, dated 24 April 2012, we hereby remind you the procedure to be followed in order to reclaim tax overwithheld at source on interest, redemption or dividend payments made before 15 May 2012.

Background

Before to the implementation of our omnibus account with Bank Handlowy w Warszawie SA (“Bank Handlowy”), our depository in Poland, each customer holding Polish securities with Clearstream Banking was supposed to open a segregated account directly with Bank Handlowy.

The nominee concept was not recognised by the legislation applicable until the publication of the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments in the Journal of Laws on 3 November 2011.

As a result, the entity in whose name the sub-account was opened in Poland was treated, for Polish tax purposes, as the beneficial owner of all the Polish securities and the securities were registered in that name. Tax relief was available only to our customers holding the securities for themselves (not for third parties).

Reminder: How to reclaim tax for payments made before 15 May 2012

If:

• you are the final beneficial owner of the Polish securities held on your account before the implementation of our omnibus account in Poland, and
• you are eligible to obtain a reduced tax rate in accordance with the Double Taxation Treaty (DTT) signed between your country of residence and Poland, or based on the Polish domestic legislation, and
• you missed the relief at source deadline and have been taxed at the maximum tax rate at source.

you may apply for a standard refund by submitting the following documentation:

Certificate of Residence

An original Certificate of Residence must be issued by your local tax authorities including the your full name and address. The Certificate of Residence must cover the relevant payment date.

Declaration of not being engaged in a commercial activity in Poland

The Declaration of not being engaged in a commercial activity in Poland must be completed and signed by you (being the final beneficial owner of the securities). The usage of the template attached at the end of this Announcement is mandatory. The Declaration must be duly notarised and apostiled in your country of residence. It must be submitted once and remains valid until revoked.

Power of Attorney from beneficial owner to Bank Handlowy w Warszawie SA

A Power of Attorney, completed and signed by you (being the final beneficial owner of the securities) must be provided in order to authorise Clearstream Banking's depository to reclaim withholding tax your behalf. The usage of the template attached at the end of this Announcement is mandatory. The Power of Attorney must be duly notarised and apostiled in your country of residence. It must be submitted once and remains valid until revoked.

Credit Advice

Identifies income payment details including the security type, gross amount of payment, date of payment and amount of tax withheld. The Credit Advice must reconcile with the information in the Letter of Request for Reclaim.

Letter of Request for Reclaim

The Letter of Request to Clearstream Banking for Reclaim of Polish Withholding Tax authorises us to process the reclaim with the Polish Tax Authorities on your behalf. It must be provided to us, completed and duly signed by you, for each reclaim application.

Additional documentation

For the purposes of the tax procedure described above, the Polish tax authority or/and the issuers may, at their own discretion, request additional documentation to prove that the beneficial owner is indeed the beneficial owner of the securities and is eligible to obtain tax relief.

Deadline for standard refund

The statutory deadline for reclaiming withholding tax is as follows:

• For income/redemption payments processed before 1 January 2009: five years from the date of the income payment.
• For income/redemption payments processed from 1 January 2009 onwards: five years from the end of the calendar year in which the income payment was made.

The deadline by which we must receive the documentation for a standard refund application is at the latest two months before the statutory deadline. We will process all standard refund applications received after this deadline on a “best efforts” basis. However, in such a case, we will apply an extra charge and accept no responsibility for forms that have not reached the Polish Tax Authorities by the date considered to be the statute of limitations deadline.

With respect to tax reclaims in general, customers are reminded that we accept no responsibility for their acceptance or non-acceptance by the tax authorities of the respective country. It is the customer’s responsibility to determine any entitlement to a refund of tax withheld and to complete the forms required correctly and calculate the amount due.

Receipt of refunded amounts

The estimated time for receiving a standard refund is four months from the date on which the standard refund application was received by the Polish Tax Authorities, although this can vary depending on when the application was filed and the complexity of the information supplied in the reclaim form.

Translation of documentation

According to Polish legislation, all documentation must be officially translated into Polish. Furthermore, as for each standard refund application the original or notarised copy must be submitted to the Polish issuers or tax authorities, the copies of the certificates must be notarised in Poland. Our Polish depository will take care of the translation and notarisation and the fees will be deducted from your account as out-of-pocket charges.

Further information

For further information, please contact the Clearstream Banking¹ Tax Help Desk on:

or Clearstream Banking Customer Service or your Relationship Officer.

1. Clearstream Banking refers collectively to Clearstream Banking AG, registered office at 61, Mergenthalerallee, 65760 Eschborn, Germany and registered in the Register B of the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, Germany under number HRB 7500 (CBF) and Clearstream Banking, société anonyme, registered office at 42, avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, and registered with the Luxembourg Register of Commerce and Companies under number B-9248 (CBL).