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A new proposal for the Council Directive on Faster and Safer Relief of Excess Withholding Taxes (FASTER). The European Commission has published the new rules for withholding taxes in the EU, which would come into force on 1 January 2027.
The proposed legislation aims to simplify cross-border investment and taxation in the EU by introducing an EU-wide common system for withholding tax on dividend and interest payments and for tax authorities to exchange information and cooperate. The key features are:
– A common EU digital tax residence certificate will make withholding tax relief procedures faster and more efficient.The digital tax residence certificate should be issued within one working day after the submission of a request.
– Two fast-track procedures complementing the existing standard refund procedure: a “relief at source” procedure and a “quick refund” system, which will make the relief process faster and more harmonised across the EU. Member States will be able to choose which one to use – including a combination of both: under the “relief at source” procedure, the tax rate applied at the time of payment of dividends or interest is directly based on the applicable rules of the double taxation treaty provisions; under the “quick refund” procedure, the initial payment is made taking into account the withholding tax rate of the Member State where the dividends or interest is paid, but the refund for any overpaid taxes is granted within 50 days from the date of payment.
– A standardised reporting obligation will provide national tax administrations with the necessary tools to check eligibility for the reduced rate and to detect potential abuse. Certified financial intermediaries will have to report the payment of dividends or interest to the relevant tax administration so that the latter can trace the transaction. In particular, large EU financial intermediaries will be required to join a national register of certified financial intermediaries. This register will also be open to non-EU and smaller EU financial intermediaries on a voluntary basis.
