KPMG 'welcomes' deadline extension on funds' German tax returns requirement
KPMG has welcomed a deadline extension issued by the German Ministry of Finance (BMF) relating to investment funds filing reclaims on behalf of tax-exempt investors with German pay agents or sub-custodians.
Announced on 2 August, the change relates to the German Investment Tax Act, and dividends paid before 1 July 2018.
The new deadline to file the necesary documents is 31 December 2019. KPMG said that based on the Act's general 18 month deadline, if a dividend was paid on 15 January 2018, then reclaim must be filed with the relevant German paying agent or sub-custodian by 15 July 2019.
However, a new template provided by German tax authorities to banks' IT systems was slow, which meant that reclaims could only be filed in the second half of 2019 - towards the end of hte 18 month deadline for dividends paid in the first six months of 2018. This caused the Germany Ministry of Finance to grant the deadline extention to the end of December this year for dividends paid before 1 July 2018.
KPMG said it welcomed this development, because it allowed continued use of the "less cumbersome method of a German paying agent or sub-custodian to obtain refunds that potentially tax-exempt investors have already requested or could request in the coming weeks for dividends paid in early 2019."
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