Withholding Tax on Separately Managed Accounts – An Overlooked Opportunity?

Withholding Tax on Separately Managed Accounts – An Overlooked Opportunity?

Introduction to SMAs Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) are portfolios of individual assets managed by a professional money manager on behalf of an investor. Instead of investing in traditional mutual funds or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), where securities are pooled or track an index, SMAs allow investors to own the assets directly. SMAs have traditionally been reserved for high net worth individuals or institutional investors as the account minimums usually range between $100k-$250k or higher. Not only does this allow investors to take advantage of their personal tax situations but it adds...

Read more
France: Comparability Criteria for WHT Exemptions of Collective Investment Funds

France: Comparability Criteria for WHT Exemptions of Collective Investment Funds

A recent update published by the French tax authorities (FTA) on the 12th of August 2020 offers revised guidelines as to the requirements non-European Union (EU) collective investment funds must meet, in order to be entitled to withholding tax exemptions on French source dividends, pursuant to Article 119 bis, 2 of the French Tax Code.

Read more
US Withholding Tax Refunds from Canadian Pooled Fund Investments

US Withholding Tax Refunds from Canadian Pooled Fund Investments

By guest author Max Reed. Max is a cross-border tax lawyer and the founding partner of Polaris Tax Council Canada. WTax partners with Polaris Tax Council in recovering US withholding tax for investors of Canadian pooled funds.

Read more
UPDATE: Dividend Withholding Tax: What Happens Post the Brexit Transition Period?

UPDATE: Dividend Withholding Tax: What Happens Post the Brexit Transition Period?

Earlier this year, WTax outlined some of the withholding tax implications of Brexit (click here). This article explores the latest developments, on how the UK’s official withdrawal from the EU will affect the withholding taxes levied on UK-domiciled funds, once the transitional period ends at the end of 2020. This is in light of the European Commission’s announcement on the 7th of July 2020, in which it was confirmed and stakeholders were informed that as from the end of the transition period (31 December 2020), the EU rules in the field of asset management — in particular Directive...

Read more
Know More About International Withholding Tax Recovery

Know More About International Withholding Tax Recovery

There is a great deal to be gained from understanding the inner workings of international withholding tax (WHT) recovery – especially when it comes to dividend income. Institutional investment firms stand to increase their clients’ ROI on foreign investments by up to 0.5% by simply unlocking the various dividend WHT reclaim methodologies. If you want to know more about international withholding tax recovery, this article will provide a good foundation.

Read more
Withholding Tax Refunds: Unlocking 0.5% Increase in Fund Performance

Withholding Tax Refunds: Unlocking 0.5% Increase in Fund Performance

While global markets continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty still lingers around the immediate future of dividends, investment firms should be looking for sound and innovative ways to boost investment performance.

Read more
To Accrue or Not to Accrue — That is the Question

To Accrue or Not to Accrue — That is the Question

Should you be accruing for withholding tax recoveries on foreign investment income or should these recoveries should rather be accounted for on a cash basis? In the accounting world, the eternal goal is to ensure that financial records accurately reflect the financial position of a particular entity at a point in time. This generally means accounting for transactions when they occur as opposed to when the cash implications are felt.

Read more
The Race to Withholding Tax Recovery – Statutes of Limitations

The Race to Withholding Tax Recovery – Statutes of Limitations

Withholding tax recovery opportunities unfortunately don’t exist forever. Every investment market has a statute of limitation for withholding tax (WHT) recovery claims to be filed. This means that each claim has an expiry date and the claims must be filed before this date, to ensure that the recovery is not lost.

Read more