The German Tax Agency (the BZSt) offers an electronic tax relief program (the DTV) designed to facilitate and accelerate German tax reclaims on equities by financial institutions. Acupay provides custodian banks with an electronic link to the BZSt via the Acupay System, allowing for streamlined and rapid processing of refund requests. Issuer: Notice Date (No.): Security Type: ISIN / CUSIP: Issue Country: Record Date: Payment Date: Gross Dividend Amt: Default Tax Rate: Available Tax Rates: Services Available: DTV Quick Refund Volkswagen AG (PFD) May 7, 2018, 2018.05.003 Equity (including American Depositary Shares (ADRs)) ORD ISIN: DE0007664039 / CINS CUSIP: D94523103 (ADR: 928662402 / US9286624021) Germany May 7, 2018 (Only holdings as of the Record Date are entitled to tax refunds.) May 8, 2018 (ADR: May 15, 2018) 3.96 per share 26.375% 25%, 20%, 15% (depending on the domicile and the nature of the investor, see details below) DTV Quick Refund: See full details below. Acupay Open: May 7, 2018 9:00 AM Acupay Cut-off: Submissions accepted continuously, batches processed at the end of each week. October 15, 2018 8:00 PM 1
How to Read this Important Notice: The information in this important notice is organized as follows Order Topic Location 1 Synopsis Page 2 2 DTV Quick Refund Features Page 3 3 Document Requirements Page 3 4 DTV Quick Refund Procedure / Steps: Page 4 5 Annex A: German Treaty-Reduced Tax Rates Page 5..... Synopsis: Under German law, dividends paid by German payors to a non-german resident holder of German shares (including ADRs) are subject to a 26.375% statutory withholding tax at-source. The last domestic paying agent must apply the 26.375% withholding tax to the dividend payable. Therefore all holders of German equity securities will be paid net of this withholding on the payment date. Most non-german resident holders of German equity securities are eligible for a reduced rate of tax based on tax treaties that are in force between the shareholder s country of residence and Germany, and the investor type. Some types of holders, like U.S. charities and pension funds, are exempt from German withholding tax under the U.S. Germany Double Taxation Treaty (see IMPORTANT NOTE below for additional information). Acupay provides the DTV Quick Refund via the Acupay System, Acupay s secure on-line submission platform. This eliminates unnecessary delays in compiling paper documents and results in the optimized and timely electronic filing of the reclaims with the German tax authority. Tax refund payments are wired directly to the cash account specified by the custodian bank. DTV Quick Refund submissions are collected immediately following the Record Date up until 5 months and 1 week after the ORD Payment Date, and submitted continuously to the BZSt. IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to the recent changes that have arisen due to Article 50j of the Income tax act (Einkommenssteuergesetz, EStG), as of January 1, 2017, the BZSt will not be processing reclaim requests for DTT rates less than 15% via the DTV procedure. Reclaim requests for shareholders who are eligible for a tax rate less than 15% withholding must be submitted to the BZSt via long form reclaim using a special form (E-Steuersatz < 15 % (bei Streubesitz)) that allows the BZSt to collect certain information about the investor and the securities they hold (link). Please also note that such a shareholder cannot request a reclaim for a rate equal to or greater than 15% withholding via DTV Quick Refund in order to circumvent the long form reclaim process. Additionally, the BZSt has recently introduced a Relief at Source submission method for non-german Investment Funds. As of January 1, 2018, non-german Investment Funds are not able to submit via DTV. They are, instead, required to submit either via Relief at Source or Long Form Reclaim. For more details, please email dteam@acupay.com or call (212) 422-1222 (NY) or +44 20 7382 0340 (London). 2
DTV Quick Refund Features: CA Web Instructions and Refund Payments: 1 DTC CA Web Instructions are not needed. There are no DTC fees or indemnities. 2 Refund payment wired directly to the account specified, in USD or EUR, as requested. Acupay DTV Audit 1 Support: 1 Acupay supports the co-ordination of all audits with the BZSt, including facilitating residency certifications and collecting any additional documentation, as needed. 2 Certificates of Residence should not be transmitted to Acupay at the time of submission of a DTV Quick Refund. In the case of an audit by the BZSt for an IRS Form 6166, Acupay provides access to a free Acupay 6166 service where clients can apply on-line at no cost to them. DTV Quick Refund Processing Fees: 1 5% of the refunded amount will be deducted from the refund payment as a processing fee. Important Notes: 1 As of January 1, 2018, non-german investment funds will not be able to request a refund during the DTV Quick Refund. To file a request for refund, the request must be submitted to the BZSt via either relief at source or long form reclaim. 2 Investors that are subject to a withholding tax rate that is less than 15% (U.S. qualified pension funds, U.S. tax exempt organizations, and the countries noted with an asterisk [*] in Annex A [see page 5]) are not able to file a reclaim request during the DTV Quick Refund. To file a request for refund, the request must be submitted to the BZSt via long form reclaim. In addition, such an investor cannot apply for a rate greater than or equal to 15% in order to avoid having to file a long form reclaim. Document Requirements: Investor Types: Physical Persons, Legal Entities, Partnerships, LLCs, Estates, and Trusts Required Items Upfront On Audit* Format 1 Transmittal Document Generated by the Acupay System 2 Security Position Inquiry printout Showing RD Position. 3 *NEW* Letter of Authorization Showing BO authorizing the custodian bank to submit on its behalf Can be completed on-line: [link] 4 Certificate of Tax Residence Form 6166 for U.S. Residents provided free of charge by Acupay for audit purposes. 5 German tax voucher Certified by the last domestic paying agent. 6 Ownership Questionnaire For partnerships, trusts, and estates. Can be completed on-line: www.acupay.com/bzstdocumentation and and * Please note that this list is for indicative purposes only. Document requirements change based on beneficial investor type and country of tax residence. DTV Quick Refund Procedure / Steps: 1 The German tax authority carries out two types of audits after the refunds have been granted: Automated Audit: *NEW* The German tax authority selects a random set of beneficial owners per each reclaim submission for whom the Letter of Authorization" must be submitted. Acupay has this letter on file from the time of submission. Manual Audit: The German tax authority may request additional documentation at their discretion such as a Certificates of Tax Residence, German tax vouchers or Letters of Determination. 3
Custodian banks and financial intermediaries must be approved by the German tax agency to use the DTV tax relief procedure. DTV Approvals are valid across branches of the same firm around the world. If you are unsure if your institution has already been approved, please check with the D-team (dteam@acupay.com) in London or New York to find out. o If you or your custodian bank of financial intermediary are not approved yet, just go to http://www.acupay.com/bzstdtvapplication, fill in the requested information, sign it and send it to us. We will take it from there! Acupay Submission: Custodian banks must enter tax relief requests along with the beneficial owner information into the Acupay System. At the end of the process, the Acupay System will generate a barcoded Transmittal Document and provide a breakdown of any additional documentation which must be provided as part of the submission. The Transmittal Document must be signed by the custodian bank or financial intermediary upon submission of their requests. For each submission the custodian bank must provide a Security Position Report (SPR) printout showing the record date position at the clearing system(s) and/or upstream custodian for the relevant ISIN or CUSIP. The total amount shown on the SPR must be greater than or equal to the aggregate amount of client BO holdings submitted for German tax refunds. The SPR printout should be sent via scanned PDF or fax, accompanied by the signed Transmittal Document Once you have printed, signed and compiled all of the documentation that the system indicates as being necessary, transmit all documentation to Acupay for processing. IMPORTANT - ADDITIONAL STEP: Once Acupay has finished reviewing the documentation and completed its processing, it will generate and send to the custodian bank a Cover Letter that will accompany the reclaim to the BZSt, which will need to be printed, signed, and returned to Acupay for onward transmission to the BZSt. copies are required 4
Annex A German Tax Treaty Countries and Treaty Rates Albania 15% Iran 20% Poland 15% Algeria 15% Ireland 15% Portugal 15% Argentina 15% Israel* 10% Republic of Kosovo 15% Armenia* 10% Italy 15% Romania 15% Australia 15% Ivory Coast 15% Russia 15% Austria 15% Jamaica 15% Serbia 15% Azerbaijan 15% Japan 15% Singapore 15% Bangladesh 15% Kazakhstan 15% Slovakia 15% Belarus 15% Kenya 15% Slovenia 15% Belgium 15% Korea (R.O.K.) 15% South Africa 15% Bolivia* 10% Kuwait 15% Spain 15% Bosnia-Herzegovina 15% Kyrgyzstan 15% Sri Lanka 15% Bulgaria 15% Latvia 15% Sweden 15% Canada 15% Liberia 15% Switzerland 15% China* 10% Liechtenstein 15% Syria* 10% Costa Rica 15% Lithuania 15% Taiwan* 10% Croatia 15% Luxembourg 15% Tajikistan 15% Cyprus 15% Macedonia 15% Thailand 20% Czech Republic 15% Malaysia 15% Trinidad & Tobago 20% Denmark 15% Malta 15% Tunisia 15% Ecuador 15% Mauritius 15% Turkey 15% Egypt 15% Mexico 15% Turkmenistan 15% Estonia 15% Moldova 15% Ukraine* 10% Finland 15% Mongolia* 10% United Arab Emirates* 10% France 15% Montenegro 15% United Kingdom 15% Georgia* 10% Morocco 15% United States 15% Ghana 15% Namibia 15% Uruguay 15% Greece 25% Netherlands 15% Uzbekistan 15% Hungary 15% New Zealand 15% Venezuela 15% Iceland 15% Norway 15% Vietnam 15% India* 10% Pakistan 15% Zambia 15% Indonesia 15% Philippines 15% Zimbabwe 20% *Applicants entitled to a DTT rate of less that 15% must file via long form reclaim to the BZSt. PLEASE NOTE: This table is a summary only. Special rules or documentation requirements may exist for investors of certain types and categories, in some nations. Acupay has abstracted the relevant German tax treaty and regulations in an easy-to-use wizard, which includes on-line access to relevant forms: www.acupay.com/germanyinfo/ 5