Quick refund – Swedish equities
Dividend payments distributed from Swedish equities are subject to 30% withholding tax by default in Clearstream Banking.
Eligible beneficial owners
The following beneficial owners are eligible to obtain a quick refund from withholding tax on dividend payments on Swedish equities:
Equities | |
Beneficial owner | Tax rate |
Non-resident of a DTT country a | DTT |
Tax exempt entities:
| 0% |
a. Residents of Switzerland cannot apply for relief at source or a reclaim using the quick refund or standard procedure via Clearstream Banking, but instead reclaim applications for residents of Switzerland must be filed, by the beneficial owner, directly with the competent tax authority. This is following an agreement between the Tax Authorities of Sweden and Switzerland dated 17 August 1993 that regulates treaty benefits and the reclaim process. Under this agreement, treaty benefits are only possible through tax reclaim.
In addition, UK tax resident individuals are in addition also not eligible to apply for relief at source or quick refund via Clearstream Banking. Such beneficial owners may however request a standard reclaim.
Documentation requirements
For the purpose of obtaining a quick refund on behalf of eligible beneficial owners, clients must submit to Clearstream Banking, before the relevant deadlines, the following documentation:
- All beneficial owner types:
- One-Time Certificate for Swedish Equities;
- Per-payment instruction.
And upon request:
- List of beneficial owners
- Certificate of tax residence and other supporting documentation
And, in addition, for:
- Organisations and foreign governments recognised as tax-exempt by the Swedish Tax Authorities:
- Certificate of exemption;
- Funds established in accordance with the UCITS directive (2009/65/EC):
- Certificate stating that the fund is qualified under the UCITS IV directive (2009/65/EC);
- Non-UCITS funds:
- Certificate stating that the fund is authorised to market and sell units of the fund in Sweden;
- Entities within the meaning of EU Parent Subsidiary Directive 2011/96/EU:
- Certificate of tax residence;
- Confirmation that the beneficial owner is a legal entity as described in Annex I part A and that it is subject to taxation as described in Annex I part B;
- Confirmation of beneficial ownership eligibility (not required for the first quick refund request, but must be submitted for all subsequent requests).
Important note:
The required documentation, when claiming exemption of withholding tax on dividend payment from Swedish equities, via the quick refund procedure, for eligible beneficial owners according to the EU Parent Subsidiary Directive 2011/96/EU, must be provided by the Clearstream Banking deadline stated above.
Upon receipt of the documentation, the local depository will perform a pre-approval of the provided documents. There is no defined time frame provided for by the local depository for such pre-approval process as it may vary from case to case.
Clients should further note that beneficial owners may effectively only be eligible for the tax exemption once the file has been approved by Clearstream’s local depository.
Given the above pre-approval process, in the absence of any gross negligence, Clearstream Banking accepts no responsibility if the requested exemption via quick refund is rejected by its local depository and/or relevant tax authorities and/or if the market deadline for quick refund has passed due to the pre-approval process and or any request for additional documentation during the pre-approval process and, more generally, any event outside Clearstream Banking’s reasonable control.
All clients must ensure that the tax instructions provided relate to settled positions only, without consideration of pending trades.
The deadline for reclaiming withholding tax using the quick refund procedure is no later than six weeks after the income payment date, by 10:00 CET as per below:
Document | Deadline for receipt by Clearstream Banking |
One-Time Certificate for Swedish Equities | Six weeks after the income payment date, by 10:00 CET. |
Per-payment instruction | Six weeks after the income payment date, by 10:00 CET. |
Certificate of exemption | Six weeks after the income payment date, by 10:00 CET. |
Certificate stating that the fund is qualified under the UCITS IV directive (2009/65/EC) | Six weeks after the income payment date, by 10:00 CET. |
Certificate stating that the fund is authorised to market and sell units of the fund in Sweden | Six weeks after the income payment date, by 10:00 CET. |
List of beneficial owners for whom relief at source has been requested | Upon request and within Clearstream Banking’s deadline. |
Certificate of tax residence and other supporting documentation | Entities within the meaning of EU Parent Subsidiary Directive 2011/96/EU: Six weeks after the income payment date, by 10:00 CET. Other beneficial owners: Upon request and within Clearstream Banking’s deadline. |
Confirmation that the beneficial owner is a legal entity as described in Annex I part A and that it is subject to taxation as described in Annex I part B. | Six weeks after the income payment date, by 10:00 CET. |
Confirmation of beneficial ownership eligibility | Six weeks after the income payment date, by 10:00 CET. |
When are refunds received?
The estimated time for receiving a quick refund is one month from the date that Clearstream Banking receives the certified documents.