In order to be able to avail of the tax benefits available in the respective markets noted below for the year 2023, all non-resident investors are advised to update their Certificates of Tax Residence. As customary, such certificates remain valid for the calendar year of issuance. The pertinent details of the investor on the issued Certificate of Tax Residence (i.e., name, address, etc.) has to match the name and address associated with the client’s account.
In Czech Republic, the Certificate of Tax Residence must be an original document or alternatively a certified copy, with a wet ink signature and/or stamp. In case the document does not have a wet ink signature and/or stamp, the document must be certified by a notary, confirming the document is an original document or a true copy of the original document issued by the tax authority of the particular country, and must also be apostilled. In this market, the Certificate of Tax Residence shall also be supported by a Beneficial Owner Declaration. The requirements for Beneficial Owner Declarations are as follows:
- since local laws and regulations are not specific about the age of the Beneficial Owner Declaration, UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia, as. has decided to apply a less strict approach and we ask our clients to deliver Beneficial Owner Declarations not older than 3 calendar years following the year when the document was issued (e.g., a Beneficial Owner Declaration received in December 2021 will be valid until 31 December 2024)
- the Beneficial Owner Disclosure/Breakdown is required for each income / redemption payment and should be issued after the record date.
- in order to act consistently, this approach will be applied to all income / redemption payments, i.e., not only in cases where the Czech National Bank acts as paying agent
- if applicable, the updated Beneficial Owner Declaration should be delivered to UniCredit as soon as possible - in the absence of the updated Beneficial Owner Declaration, the maximum tax rate, i.e., 35%, will be applied.
In Russia, Certificates of Tax Residence should be provided by the actual recipients of the income from securities held via Owner Accounts and from shares held via Foreign nominee account, whereby the actual recipients might be UniCredit’s client itself (owner account holder) or a third party non-resident as disclosed by the client (applicable for both Owner Accounts and Foreign nominee accounts). The Beneficial Owner Representation (“BOR”) should be provided by both UniCredit’s client itself (owner account holder, foreign nominee holder) and a third party whereby the actual recipients might be a third party as disclosed by the client. Please note that the form of BOR, to be completed by the clients, will be provided by AO UniCredit Bank. Considering the provision of DTT and the MLI tax convention, the actual recipients of the income shall also provide the documents that support the declarations on their tax statuses in the BOR, as an example:
- Audited financial reports of the recipient(s) of income;
- other documents evidencing that the recipient(s) of income is(are) is eligible to apply for the reduced tax rate according to the DTT and the MLI convention (if applicable).
Foreign nominee account holders are currently not required to collect Certificates of Tax Residence and BORs from their underlying clients for coupon payments. Where required, Certificates of Tax Residence, other supporting documents shall be presented apostilled and will have to be translated into Russian.
With respect to shares held via Foreign nominee account, if the actual recipients of the income are individuals (both residents RF and non-residents) the tax rate 15% will be applied as for the individuals with non-confirmed Russian tax residency. AO UniCredit Bank does not analyze documents of the individuals from the perspective of taxation, thus no tax documentation is required in this case.
Serbia: Non-resident clients are advised to provide their Certificates of Residence no later than 31 January 2023 in order to avoid standard tax rates (which will be applied until valid Certificate of Residence is received) for eligible investors.
Certificate of Residence must be provided as an original document. Notarization and legalization of the document is not required, however the document needs to be signed and stamped by the relevant authority of the client’s domicile country. The certificate is valid for the calendar year of issuance. The name and the address of the investor on the issued Certificate of Residence has to match the account name and address at the CSD.
Additionally, if requested, documents proving that the investor is the actual beneficiary of the income have to be submitted too.
Impact on Clients: Updated tax documents should be provided as soon as they become available in January 2023, in order to avoid the application of standard tax rates (which will otherwise be applied until valid updated documents are received).