Recently, the tax administration published an updated guidance on the tax refund procedure for non-residents to claim a 15% refund of withholding tax on portfolio dividends.
According to the new procedure, as from 1 January 2017, the income from dividends subject to a residual tax rate of 15% under an agreement. If pursuant to an agreement, the income from a free float dividends received by an applicant is less than 15%, and if this applicant falls within the scope of section 50j EStG (the Income Tax Code), the corresponding repayment requests need to be writing from 1 January 2017.
