Fund tax services

In Wealth and asset management

Wealth & Asset Management Tax and Tax Reclaims Services

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Tax

Wealth and asset management

Rosheen Dries

EY EMEIA Wealth and Asset Management Tax Leader; EY Luxembourg Partner

Patrice Fritsch

EY EMEIA Luxembourg Tax Partner

In our Luxembourg Wealth & Asset Management sector we are over 300 professionals delivering assurance, actuarial, consulting, tax and transaction services to asset management companies.

In our tax department we offer a complete suite of services to asset managers, sponsors, initiators, general partners, promoters, management companies, investment managers, depositary banks, fund administrators and transfer agents.

We nurture our visibility and relevance to the industry through our presence in professional committees and tax working groups as well as through thought leadership activities that we are delivering, including regular client events on hot topics and press articles.

We tailor our approach to the unique needs of each client of the investment fund industry, serving as a business advisor while providing the objectivity demanded by regulators, boards, counterparties, and investors. Our multi-disciplinary approach allows us to provide a holistic answer to our clients’ needs.

EY Luxembourg provides for several years Aberdeen and Double Tax Treaty Withholding tax reclaim services in a number of investment countries. Since 2004, European Court’s decisions have further reinforced EU investment funds filing position with regard to WHT reclaims and increased the likelihood of reclaims being honoured every year.

Today Luxembourg funds represent roughly one third of the assets under management of UCITS which means that across the asset management industry as a whole, there are billions of Euros of dividend withholding tax, relating to open tax periods, for which reclaims are yet to be filed.

Over time, the local teams have grown together into a strong network of experts with a tried and tested delivery model. Our close relationship with local tax authorities is one side the result of the substantial amount of WHT reclaims filed on behalf of our clients.

Reliance on quality and short communication channels on the other side always ensure fast and precise information delivery. The latter proved to be the key for our positive results in the follow up stage of the WHT reclaim procedure.

The success of our Tax Reclaims Services meant that we have taken the decision to integrate digital platforms and robots to speed up our processes and screen the quality of the data.

EY Luxembourg proposes a phased approach to prepare and file eligible tax reclaims in the countries for which refunds have been granted, with or without limitations.
As large investors seek to diversify and make increasing foreign investments, many hold investments in countries here they have no physical presence. Many countries have been increasing tax compliance requirements for non-resident investors. As a result, the tax compliance and reporting obligations for these investors have grown significantly in volume and complexity

While more developed countries (e.g., European countries) generally collect tax on non-resident investors through withholding, the tax jurisdictions in some less developed and emerging countries often require local tax reporting. These local country requirements may demand that investors file returns and require them to use a service provider located in country or have a registered tax agent. Some common markets include: Bangladesh, India, Taiwan, Pakistan, and Romania. In addition, the increased complexity of the global tax landscape requires investors to consider the tax implications of the markets where they invest.

Many global investors are seeking assistance with these foreign jurisdictions to answer questions about these requirements and meet all of their compliance and reporting needs. Their custodians are not positioned to answer all of these questions and meet all of these needs on their behalf because they are not tax advisors and are not authorized to render tax consulting services.

Global investors must therefore identify and coordinate with numerous local tax service providers to meet their compliance and reporting requirements. EY provides a globally centralized approach to the tax compliance services for direct investments into foreign markets (as non- resident investors), where in-country services are required. Generally, these are capital gains filings related to publicly traded equities and debt.

Our Luxembourg professionals understand the role of the tax service provider in various non-resident markets, the interaction of the taxpayer with global and local custodians, and the compliance and reporting responsibilities that our clients face.

We have a proven methodology for global service management to provide greater visibility and control to our clients, and allow them to be more proactive in meeting and monitoring the growing tax requirements in the markets where they invest and manage risk.
The EY Global Withholding Tax Reporter is a web-based application that provides technical information regarding withholding income tax rates, fund-level taxes, treaties, procedures, forms and instructions for the following:

Portfolio dividends
Portfolio interest
Capital gains
Fund distributions
Real estate investment trust (REIT) distributions
Alternative investment strategies (futures, forwards and swaps)
Other financial instruments (repurchase contracts, short sales and asset-backed securities)
Value-added tax (VAT) and goods and services tax (GST)
Stamp duties

The GWTR helps you stay current on withholding tax developments worldwide by providing not only the new tax rate but also perspective about what this change means for your business.The GWTR’s 25 years of service reflects EY’s ongoing commitment to the global financial services industry. The GWTR currently includes 100 countries of investment and 207 investor countries, including the following beneficial owner types:

Collective investment vehicles (CIVs) (including Luxembourg FCPs and SICAVs, Cayman Islandscorporate funds, Irish ICVCs and UK OEICs)
Pension funds
Trusts
Charities and foundations
Insurance companies
Bodies corporate
Banks
Governments
Partnerships
Individuals

With more than 25 years of experience, EY’s core GWTR team has established deep relationships with the tax professionals in the countries where EY member firms have offices. Continual contact with each jurisdiction promotes the transparency of each change or issue.EY member firms have an excellent relationship with local tax authorities, established during many years working on client issues and providing technical tax knowledge and practical advice.
The Rapid Security Analyzer (RSA) automates the process of analyzing your investment portfolio for interest and capital gains liabilities at the financial instrument level. The RSA’s reports reflect the tax rate and associated rules, (including netting interest and rules) as well as the tax considerations noted with the red, amber or green (RAG) status of each security.

Additional features include:

An executive dashboard that provides a broad overview of the findings by country, region and RAG (red, amber or green) status
Side-by-side comparison of taxation of different fund types and tax rates by date
RSA Lite, an online version of RSA that enables one-off lookups and comparisons of capital gains tax rules, rates and statusesBenefits of RSA
Reduced time and cost of tax analysis
Risk mitigation
Improved accuracy and confidence
Improved control and governance
Enhanced ability to quickly make more informed decisions
Robust and far-reaching information
Jurisdictions of investments possible in 79 countries
Fund types: Bermuda Company, Bermuda LP, BVI Ltd., Canada MFT, Cayman Exempt Company, Cayman LP, Cayman Ltd., Guernsey Corporation, Irish Corp, Jersey Corporation, Luxembourg SARL, Luxembourg SICAV/SICAF, UK LP, US LP, US LLC, US RIC
Instrument categories: publicly traded debt, private debt, sovereign debt, private equity, publicly traded equity, depositary receipt, asset-backed security (real estate), asset-backed security (non-real estate), future, forward, swap, repo

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.

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