Applying for a certificate

One of the means for avoiding the levy of withholding tax under the Directive and related agreements is to obtain a tax certificate from HMRC and present it to your paying agent. Your agent will then pay savings income to you without deducting the special withholding tax.

Do I need a certificate?

You only need to apply for a certificate if:

• You receive savings income paid by a paying agent established in a territory which will apply a withholding tax. These territories are Andorra, Austria, Belgium, British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands Antilles, San Marino, Switzerland and Turks & Caicos Islands
• You wish to receive savings income without the deduction of withholding tax
• The territory has adopted this option as a method of avoiding withholding tax – your paying agent will be able to advise you which options are open to you.

How to apply for a certificate

You should send a letter to your usual tax office requesting the issue of a certificate under the Savings Directive and related agreements. You will need to provide the following information:

• Your full name and address
• Your National Insurance number or, if you do not have one, your date of birth and the town and country in which you were born
• The Account number(s) of the investment(s) you hold with your paying agent or, if there is no account number, other information which identifies the investment (such as its name, or a SEDOL/CUSIP number). If you are a life tenant of an interest in possession trust then you may give information to identify the trust rather than include details of the individual investments held by the trust
• The name and address of your paying agent
• The period (not exceeding three years) for which you want the certificate to be valid

Your tax office may ask you to provide documents to support the information you have provided. Provided it is happy, it will issue a certificate within two months of receiving the information and any documents requested.

The certificate will include the information you provided. It will state how long the certificate is valid for, which will be no more than three years. It will be your responsibility to apply for a further certificate before the first one expires.

In exceptional cases your tax office may refuse to issue a certificate if it is not satisfied with the information provided and any documents requested. If so, it will give you written notice of the reasons for its refusal. If you do not agree with its decision, you may appeal in writing to the Special Commissioners, by giving notice of your appeal to your tax office within 30 days of the date of the written refusal.