Dividend Withholding Tax (DWT)

Exemptions for residents

Qualifying Irish resident persons, known as excluded persons, are entitled to an exemption from DWT. If you are an excluded person you must claim the exemption.

Excluded persons are:

  • companies
  • pension schemes
  • qualifying employee share ownership trusts (ESOTs)
  • collective investment undertakings (CIUs)
  • charities
  • bodies established and existing for the sole purpose of promoting athletic or amateur games or sports
  • designated brokers in relation to special portfolio investments accounts (SPIAs)
  • qualifying fund managers in relation to approved retirement funds (ARFs) or approved minimum retirement funds (AMRFs)
  • Irish exempt unit trusts
  • Irish Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) administrators
  • permanently incapacitated individuals who are exempt from income tax on:
    • payments received from qualifying trusts, for income arising from the investment of these payments
    • income from the investment of compensation for personal injury claims. (This is the case whether the compensation was made by the courts or out of court settlements.)
  • trustees of a trust fund:
    • raised by public subscriptions
    • for individuals who are permanently incapacitated from maintaining themselves
    • where the trust is exempt from Income Tax on income from the investment of trust funds.
  • Thalidomide victims who are exempt from income tax on income from the investment of compensation payments made by the:
    • Minister for Health and Children
    • Thalidomide Victims’ Foundation.
  • a Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) provider who is receiving the relevant distribution as income arising in respect of PEPP assets.

To claim an exemption

Excluded persons must complete one of the following declaration forms:

The exemption will remain valid until you cease to become an excluded person for the purposes of DWT.

You can give the declaration form to:

  • the company making the distribution
  • your qualifying intermediary (QI)
  • or
  • authorised withholding agent (AWA).

Next: Refunds for residents