What is puzzling for me, Official Total guide:
On the official Total shareholders guide, it claims France will claim 12.8% witholding for non residentsā¦
Maybe this is the reason:
IB pooling account
https://ibkr.info/article/3046
Seems our equity is held by US entity thus incurring max witholding, @David can you confirm if this is source of issue?
That document is self explanatory I think. You only pay 12.8% dividend tax and even then you pay nothing if your country has an agreement with France but youāll have to follow the protocol and complete a form. If your holdings in Total is substantial then Iād suggest completing the form F5000, you should get the money back. Of course T212 could make it easier by clarifying the whole process for everyone.
They make it difficult to claim tax back donāt they?
You even have to pay 125 euros whether itās successful or not. The other document you sent doesnāt mention that. Itāll probably be easier and cheaper for you to make the claim directly to the french authorities.
Here is a link to the forms Iāve just found.
Hi David, is anything new in that matter since Apr20, when you āpromisedā on b ehalf of brokerage T212 to be matter workout/resolved in aplication of correct w-h tax in rate 12,8% for French divis by non-residents instead of non-correct 28%???
I suppose, T212 shall be introduced/submitted special French form - declaration of french non-residancy (similar as W8BEN by US tax)
Just to check what is the latest on the topic?
As per official info:
Effective
1 January 2021
the following default withholding tax rates, will apply to French-sourced dividends paid to non-resident beneficiaries:
- 26.5% to legal entities and undisclosed recipients. Until 31 December 2020, the applicable rate is 28%. This default tax rate may be reduced or eliminated under an applicable double taxation treaty agreement or through domestic law provisions.
- 12.8% to foreign individuals. This rate is unchanged compared to 2020. This default tax rate may be reduced or eliminated under an applicable double taxation treaty agreement.
It seems clear that the default rate applied to/by T212, which is 26.5% can be further lowered.
Has T212 invested effort into resolving this issue since discussed?
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Kindly ask for answer on above query.
Thank you 
Hey, Vedran 
We replicate the exact same charges applied to us by IB, upon distributing dividends, hence the reason we donāt have a way of lowering the percentage of tax applied, in accordance with the different treaties.
Itās likely that your local tax authorities have a way of enforcing those treaties and issuing a refund for some of the tax upon filing income tax for the relevant year, but itās best to confirm that with them.
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