European withholding tax exemption certificate

According to Article 11 of the European Savings Directive 2003/48/EC, Luxembourg banks (“paying agents”) are levying a specific (“European”) withholding tax at a rate of 35% on certain interest payments as defined by this directive.

However, if an individual taxpayer resident in an European Member State provides a Luxembourg bank:

either with an exemption certificate, which shall be issued on the taxpayer’s request and drawn up by the tax authorities of the taxpayer's country pursuant to article 13 (2) of the Savings Directive (article 13 (1) (b)),

or with a mandate to automatically report, according to article 9 of the Savings Directive, nominative information through their competent authorities to the tax administration of their country of residence on all interest payments covered (article 13 (1) a)),

no withholding tax will be withheld by the Luxembourg paying agent, as the tax administration of the country of residence is already aware of the fact that its resident holds a cash or securities account in Luxembourg.

In order to make it easier for clients of Luxembourg banks to obtain the exemption certificate from their country of residence, the ABBL has written to all EU Member States requesting information on their certificates and asking them to send the association model forms if available.

The certificates / model forms for individuals as well as for so-called residual entities (opting for the UCITS treatment), may be downloaded below, if available. The exemption certificate for Luxembourg residents holding an account abroad may also downloaded below.

Please note that some of these forms are only samples, which cannot be directly used (in these cases, clients need to obtain the form directly from their tax administration). In some (rare) cases, it is mandatory to use a separate request form to obtain the required tax form.

**Overview of Member State exemption certificates**
Country of residence	Certificate for Individuals	Certificate for Residual Entities (UCITS)	Form for Obtention of Certificate
Austria	NO	NO	NO
Belgium	YES	YES	NO
Bulgaria	YES	YES	NO
Cyprus1	NO	NO	NO
Czech Republic	YES	YES	NO
Denmark	NO	NO	NO
Estonia	YES	NO	NO
Finland	YES	YES	YES
France	YES	YES	NO
Germany	YES	YES	NO
Greece	YES	NO	NO
Hungary	YES	YES	NO
Ireland	NO	NO	NO
Italy	YES	YES	NO
Latvia	YES	NO	NO
Lithuania	NO	NO	NO
Luxembourg	YES	NO	NO
Malta	YES	NO	NO
The Netherlands	YES	NO	YES
Poland	YES	NO	NO
Portugal	YES	YES	NO
Slovakia	YES	NO	YES
Slovenia	YES	YES	NO
Spain	YES	YES	NO
Sweden	YES	NO	NO
United Kingdom	YES	YES	NO