NAPF publishes global withholding tax relief Made Simple guide at Trustee Conference

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has today (Wednesday) launched a new Made Simple guide offering an accessible and practical introduction to the world of global withholding tax and tax relief on cross-border securities investments. The guide has been produced in collaboration with Goal Group.

Withholding tax is a levy deducted from income on cross-border securities in the country of origin, but a portion of that tax may be reclaimed by custodians on behalf of their clients. This Made Simple guide outlines the general principles, guidelines for full or partial tax relief and the practicalities of securing the tax relief that pension schemes are entitled to.

Graham Vidler, Director of External Affairs, NAPF, commented:

“The Made Simple guides are an essential resource for people in the pensions industry. This guide will help trustees, pensions managers and other interested parties, get to grips with the principles of global withholding tax relief, how it might affect their pension scheme and what needs to be done.

“Importantly, the guide is designed to be informative but without the jargon, business-speak and technical talk often associated with pensions and investments. We are very grateful to Goal Group who provided their knowledge and expertise.”

Stephen Everard, CEO of Goal Group, commented:

“Global withholding tax relief is a topic sometimes overlooked by pension funds who often assume that as a tax-exempt organisation at home, they should be automatically exempt from tax in a foreign country.

“Our research reveals that almost 24% of reclaimable tax is left unclaimed. Investors, including pension funds need to be vigilant to ensure they maximise investment returns through effective foreign tax relief strategies. This Made Simple guide brings to life some of these considerations in an accessible format.”
A PDF version of this Made Simple Guide will be available to download FREE from the NAPF website. The guide (hard copy) costs £18 for NAPF members and £35 for non-members. It can be ordered online from the NAPF website.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

Other recent made simple guides include topics such as transition management, indices and benchmarking and derivatives and benchmarking.

Goal Group

Class Actions Recoveries & Withholding Tax Reclamation
Established in 1989, GOAL Group of Companies is the leading class action service provider and tax reclamation services specialist. We have a truly blue-chip client base including many of the world's largest global custodians, asset managers, private banks, pension funds, hedge funds, high net-worth individuals, investment banks, prime brokers and fund managers spread widely across Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. We monitor client assets with a total value in excess of £8 trillion.

About the NAPF
The NAPF is the voice of workplace pensions in the UK. We speak for over 1,300 pension schemes that provide pensions for over 17 million people and have more than £900 billion of assets. We also have 400 members from businesses supporting the pensions sector.

We aim to help everyone get more out of their retirement savings. To do this we promote policies that add value for savers, challenge regulation where it adds more cost than benefit and spread best practice among our members.

Contacts:
Lucy Grubb, Head of Media and PR, NAPF, 020 7601 1726 or 07713 073023, [email protected]
Eleanor Bennett, Press Officer, NAPF, 020 7601 1718 or 07825 171 446, [email protected]