Multitude as an investment

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I am currently filing for a correction on the “excessive” withholding taxes on Multitude dividends. I would love to hear about others’ experiences if you have tackled these before, and of course, I can potentially provide some tips for those who have this process ahead of them. The Swiss taxman withholds a 35% withholding tax, of which 25% should be refunded according to the tax treaty. The final taxation in Finland depends on whether you fall under personal or corporate taxation.

  1. Download the “Snapform viewer” application to your computer; without it, you cannot fill in/save the qdt-format form.
  2. Get form No. 88 from the Swiss tax authority’s website; it is the correct form for Finnish private individuals or companies. Read the instructions on the back of the form carefully. You can find the Swiss franc exchange rate that must be used on the Swiss tax authority’s website. The amounts should therefore be in francs.
  3. Request a “tax certificate” from your broker, which verifies the dividend event and the withholding tax deduction, as well as a “tax voucher,” which confirms that the tax has actually been paid to Switzerland. The language should be English and the currency Swiss francs, according to the instructions.
  4. Send the completed form (a total of 3 identical pages) to the Finnish tax authorities to be “stamped.” In practice, the tax office confirms that you or your company has a permanent residence in Finland.
  5. Send the stamped form and its attachments to the Swiss tax authority and be prepared to wait nearly a year, depending somewhat on the amount. You can also apply for several years’ worth of tax refunds at once, as long as the application is sent within a certain deadline (was it 3 years?).

I understand that this process might dampen the enthusiasm for investing in Swiss companies, or at least for holding them at the time of dividend distribution. I can report back here on how and in what timeframe the process progresses. In the meantime, Multitude’s IR department can feel free to send me a bottle of good champagne; the address is available via private message!

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