The challenge

Withholding tax (WHT) has, for many years, been an area of portfolio taxation that gives rise to several operational tax challenges. Boards and fund managers are becoming all too aware of the drag that such taxes have on investment returns, meaning that in-house tax teams spend an increasing amount of time and resources managing and overseeing the application of these taxes to an ever-diversifying global investment portfolio.

Reliance has historically been placed on custodians to manage and identify WHT leakage. But with increasing complexity in this area of taxation, clients are looking for more efficient (and often technology-led) solutions in order to tackle:

  • Opportunities to achieve relief at source being missed through lack of documentation;
  • Double tax treaty reclaims not being filed or recovered, through lack of documentation or timely follow-up to tax authority queries; and
  • Complex-market and EU-law-based WHT reclaims not being identified.

Deloitte has developed a range of capabilities to deal with each of these areas. Using our proprietary technology and harnessing the power of our global network of WHT specialists, we can efficiently manage the full suite of WHT issues faced by asset managers and servicers.

Benefits

Increase operational efficiencies

Outsourcing of WHT processes allows your team to focus on business critical tasks

Cash flow benefits

Timely filing of documentation can minimize WHT leakage on investments, ensuring investor returns are maximized

Effective oversight

Review of WHT rates achieved versus market expectation can maximize reclaim opportunities and ensure timely recovery

Up-to-date information

Deloitte solutions capture up-to-date, market-focused analysis of domestic rates, exemptions, and double tax treaty overlay

Features

Large-scale, technology-driven data analysis

Automated data cleansing and enhancements where needed

Multiple asset class coverage

Network of global specialists to provide up-to-date advice

How it works