Withholding tax (WHT)

Roles that need it

• Tax Associate
• Custody Operations Analyst
• Corporate Actions Analyst
• Fund Accountant
• Transfer Pricing Analyst

Skills it belongs to

• Corporate taxation
• Corporate actions processing
• Custody and asset servicing

Related concepts

• Double tax treaty (DTT)A double tax treaty is an agreement between two countries that allocates taxing rights on income such as business profits, dividends and interest, so the same income is not taxed twice. Most follow the OECD Model. In the EU, disputes under treaties can go to a binding resolution procedure.
• CRS (Common Reporting Standard)The Common Reporting Standard is the OECD standard under which financial institutions identify the tax residence of account holders and report their account balances and income to local tax authorities, which exchange the data each year. The EU applies it through DAC2.
• VAT (value added tax)VAT is a consumption tax charged at each stage of supply and recovered by businesses on their purchases, so the final consumer bears it. In the EU most financial and insurance services are exempt, which means banks and insurers cannot recover much of the VAT they pay.

Sources

• Council Directive (EU) 2025/50 on faster and safer relief of excess withholding taxes (FASTER), EUR-Lex (external site) accessed 31 Oct 2026
• Council Directive 2011/96/EU (Parent-Subsidiary Directive), EUR-Lex (external site) accessed 31 Oct 2026

Updated 31 Oct 2026.