S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc) Irish domicile tax in Greece

[marko325]

Hi and sorry for noob question but i am lost about etf taxes.I live in Greece and i want to invest iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc) IE00B5BMR087 Irish domicile.In Greece ucits ETF is tax free (too good to be true?).So, that means after ALL i will have

-0% tax?

-15% tax because Double Taxation Relief between Usa-Ireland (level 1 tax?)

-Something else?

Do I have to complete W-8BEN form for ucits ETFs or it is for US domicile only?

Thanks for you time!

Ps I believe the answer is 15% and NO, but i am not sure.

Edit: to help Greek friends, tax levels : https://www.bogleheads.org/w/images/c/c3/ETF_taxes.png

so we avoid level2-level3 tax.

 

[resjudicata]

@marko325 The W-8BEN form is for when you get dividends from the US, to apply for double taxation relief as per the tax treaty between your country of residence and the US. It's not relevant for this ETF because its domiciled in Ireland and it's accumulating, not distributing; so you don't receive dividends anyway (the ETF reinvests all dividends) and even if you did, you'd receive dividends from Ireland and non-resident investors aren't subject to taxation in Ireland.

It is the ETF itself that is subject to US withholding taxes on the dividends it receives and it is the ETF that applies for double taxation relief as per the tax treaty between Ireland and the US (which treaty rate is 15%).

There's nothing you can do to reduce or reclaim the US withholding taxes this ETF pays on the dividends it receives.

 

[marko325]

@resjudicata Thank you so much!

 

[fatalfantasy]

@marko325

(too good to be true?)

No, this is indeed the case. Apparently you do pay solidarity tax (εισφορά αλληλεγγύης) when you sell your ETF shares, though.

Law 4099/2012, Article 103, Paragraph 5 states the following:

Τα κέρδη με τη μορφή μερισμάτων ή άλλων ωφελημάτων εκ των μεριδίων ή μετοχών, ή με τη μορφή πρόσθετης αξίας από την εκποίηση μεριδίων ή μετοχών σε τιμή ανώτερη της τιμής κτήσης, που αποκτούν σε κάθε περίπτωση, οι μεριδιούχοι ή μέτοχοι κατά περίπτωση, των ΟΣΕΚΑ που έχουν λάβει άδεια σύστασης ή λειτουργίας στην Ελλάδα, απαλλάσσονται από κάθε φόρο, τέλος, τέλος χαρτοσήμου, εισφορά, δικαίωμα ή οποιαδήποτε άλλη επιβάρυνση υπέρ του Δημοσίου, νομικών προσώπων δημοσίου δικαίου και γενικώς τρίτων, με την επιφύλαξη των παραγράφων 3 και 4 του παρόντος άρθρου.

Rough translation in English:

Earnings from UCITS funds licensed to operate in Greece in the form of dividends or other benefits from stocks or shares, as well as earnings resulting from the selling of stocks and shares at a price higher than the price these were acquired are exempt from any form of tax, stamp duty, [...]

And given the passporting rules for UCITS funds (and the relevant ECJ ruling on the subject matter), this implies that all EU/EEA-domiciled UCITS funds are considered tax free.