Exemptions
Exemption from DWT applies in the case of relevant distributions made by a company resident in the State to a person who is beneficially entitled to the distributions and is within one of the following categories -
Excluded persons
- an Irish resident company
- a pension scheme
- managers of approved retirement funds, approved minimum retirement funds and special savings incentive accounts
- a qualifying employee share option trust
- a collective investment undertaking
- a charity
- a sports body which is exempt from income tax by virtue of the income concerned being applied for the sole purpose of promoting athletic or amateur games or sports
- a designated stockbroker who is receiving relevant distributions as part of the income of a special portfolio investment account,
- a permanently incapacitated individual who is exempt from income tax in respect of income from the investment of compensation payments made by the courts or under an "out of court" settlement for personal injuries
- the trustees of a trust fund raised by public subscriptions for an individual who is permanently incapacitated from maintaining himself or herself where the trust is exempt from income tax in respect of income from the investment of trust funds,
- a permanently incapacitated individual who is exempt from income tax in respect of payments from a trust referred to in the preceding indent and in respect of income arising to such an individual from the investment of such payments, or
- a thalidomide victim who is exempt from income tax in respect of income arising from the investment of compensation payments made by the Minister for Health and Children or the "thalidomide victims foundation".
Qualifying non-resident persons
- a person (other than a company) who is neither resident nor ordinarily resident in the State and who is resident for tax purposes in country with which Ireland has a double taxation treaty (a tax treaty country) or in another EU Member State,
- a company resident in another EU Member State or in a tax treaty country and which is not controlled by Irish residents, where a certificate of tax residence is provided from the tax authority of the country concerned and a certificate from the auditor of the non-resident company is provided certifying that it is not controlled by Irish residents,
- a company which is controlled by a person or persons resident in another EU Member State or in a tax treaty country who is or are not under the control of a person or persons not so resident, where a certificate from the company's auditor is provided certifying that this is the case,
- a company the principal class of shares of which, or of a company of which it is a 75 per cent subsidiary, or where the company is wholly owned by two or more companies each of whose principal class of shares, is substantially and regularly traded on a recognised stock exchange in a tax treaty country or in another EU Member State, or on such other stock exchange as may be approved of by the Minister for Finance.
Declaration to be made
Where exemption from DWT is being claimed a declaration, in the prescribed form, must be completed. Where a dividend payment or other distribution is made directly to an exempt shareholder by the company or by an 'authorised withholding agent', the shareholder is required to provide evidence of entitlement to the exemption, in the prescribed form, to the company or the 'authorised withholding agent'. If the dividend payment or other distribution is made through a 'qualifying intermediary', the evidence of entitlement to an exemption must be given to the intermediary.
Non-residence & exemption
In the case of those non-resident individuals who are eligible for exemption from DWT, entitlement to the exemption is established by the making of a declaration of non-residence which must be supported by a certification procedure (i.e. a certificate of tax residence from the tax authorities of the country in which the individual is resident for tax purposes.
In the case of qualifying non-resident companies, entitlement to the exemption is established by means of a declaration.
May 2011