The “Kapitalertragsteuer” (tax on the income from capital) and the “Solidaritätszuschlag” (solidarity surcharge) must be withheld at source on dividend income derived from German source and are directly deducted from the gross amount paid to the recipient, in the total amount of 26.375%.
If you would like to reclaim the amounts of Kapitalertragsteuer and Solidaritätszuschlag withheld at source on German sourced dividend payments, you may need to file a request for reclaim with the Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern or “BZSt”). For such a request, you could be asked to provide proof that the taxes have been paid. To provide proof, you might need a tax certificate, what we call a “German Tax Voucher”.
Important notice:
We cannot provide advice about or assist with the tax reclaims since we are an execution-only broker. Our clients bear full and sole responsibility for managing their own application. If you need help with this, please consult your own tax advisor or the BZSt directly. Any reimbursement will be the decision of the German Tax Authorities.
What is a German Tax Voucher and how can I request one?
A German Tax Voucher is a document issued by a domestic (i.e., German) paying agent and confirms the i) type of income from capital, ii) amount of income from capital, and iii) amounts of Kapitalertragsteuer and Solidaritätszuschlag withheld. To submit your request for a tax voucher for German sourced dividend income, please contact us via e-mail.
Please be aware that tax vouchers alone do not grant the right to reimbursement. Whether a reimbursement will take place is a decision made by the BZSt.
How much does it cost?
As we currently rely on information from other parties of the custody chain, external costs of €25.00 excluding 21% VAT are associated with this request. We will charge these costs by debiting the total amount from the balance in your DEGIRO account in accordance with the Client Agreement. These costs will only be charged in case a German Tax Voucher is provided to you.
Can you assist in the actual reclaim the “Kapitalertragsteuer” and the “Solidaritätszuschlag”?
As mentioned before, we are an execution-only broker, so we cannot help or advise you with the filing or administration of the application. The application must be accurately completed by the beneficiary of the income as prescribed by the German Tax Authorities.
However, we do aim to help by providing you on a best-effort basis with any information you might need for your application, such as the Tax Voucher for the relevant dividend event in the terms better described above. We follow the instructions of the BZSt in the preparation of these documents, but we cannot guarantee that the BZSt will always accept and process the documents.