Investment Withholding Tax: Best Practice and Strategies for Intermediaries and Investors

Of the $1.6 trillion of tax withheld by foreign governments on cross-border investment income, less than seven percent will, under current conditions, ever get back to the investors to whom it belongs. For decades the financial services industry has struggled with long-winded, complex, error-prone, paper-based back office and market processes to attempt such recovery. Investors have equally been poorly informed and educated on the availability of tax reclaims. In context, if the industry could improve performance to 93%, the funds recovered would cover all the write-offs and losses declared in the sub prime crisis to date by all financial services firms worldwide combined. Custody fees would rise by $4.2 billion, portfolio values would rise by 250 basis points all without a single additional trade.

This book provides information and practical guidance to financial services firms and investors to help them understand the issues involved, the regulatory and market trends and the practicalities of maximising returns on investment.

ROSS MCGILL is Managing Director of T Consult and Globetax. He is the author of six industry recognized reference works on withholding tax, global custody, technology and U.S. regulations.