DWT Refund Help

I have some Irish shares on which I have been deducted a DWT of about 400 euro. As a non-resident I understand I'm eligible to claim the money back. When I saw the Claim Forms I decided I better hire an Irish Accountant to file. He subsequently charged me 85% of the refund in Fees and VAT!
I felt like I'd been scammed. I would not have bothered if he'd been upfront and told me I'd get 60 euro for my trouble (while he pocketed the lions share).

Is there an accountant out there willing to file such a claim for a reasonable sum?
I figure its worth less than 100 euro (inc VAT) for ten minutes work on a familiar document.

Is it the first form here?

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• [broken link removed]Dividend Withholding Tax Refund Claim Form - Claim from or on behalf of Certain Non-Resident Persons for Refund of DWT (PDF, 189KB)

If so, it looks very simple, and nobody should even think of hiring an accountant for that.

Though you do have to submit a "DWT Composite Non-Resident Form" as well, it seems.

It seems to be form V2A??

Again, it seems simple, although the tax office of the foreign country seem to have to sign it.

Thanks for the help. Those Forms may look straightforward to you - if you're an Accountant. I find them full of questions which are unclear!
For instance; Claim Form 1, first question, "Name of Company making payment of Dividends". Does that mean the companies in which I have shares, OR the Stockbroker who sends me the money??
The preamble to the Claim Form says I must send in the Original Dividend 'Vouchers'? I got no vouchers.....
I got a statement, called a "Consolidated Tax Voucher". Is that what they mean?

I'm not an accountant.

It's the name of the company whose shares you own.

The relationship you may have with any broker is not really relevant to Revenue.

Indeed, many shareholders hold paper share certs, so no broker is involved.


Yes, that consolidated tax voucher sounds right.

Starbuck said:

I have some Irish shares on which I have been deducted a DWT of about 400 euro. As a non-resident I understand I'm eligible to claim the money back. When I saw the Claim Forms I decided I better hire an Irish Accountant to file. He subsequently charged me 85% of the refund in Fees and VAT!
I felt like I'd been scammed. I would not have bothered if he'd been upfront and told me I'd get 60 euro for my trouble (while he pocketed the lions share).

Is there an accountant out there willing to file such a claim for a reasonable sum?
I figure its worth less than 100 euro (inc VAT) for ten minutes work on a familiar document.

Click to expand...

Why didn't you agree the fee in advance?

Did you sign an engagement letter? If so, what did it say about fees?

It's a bit much to expect someone to do it for €80.

Thanks Protocol, I've completed the Forms now and I hope all is in order. I'll send them off right away.

Gordon Gekko - I'd used this Accountant for several years now and he handled some major issues for me. He was never cheap, but he was good, and I believed he was looking out for me....as in....he'd tell me if the cost of filing the claim would be more than half of the refund. So yeah, silly me for being so trusting. In fairness it was one of his 'partners' who dealt with me and sent the Bill.
I've filled out those Forms in 10 minutes (with the help of Protocol). I would assume a qualified Accountant could do it even quicker. Actually, I did all the filling out last time too, for my Accountant. I just forwarded the completed Forms to him and he submitted them (he answered a couple of emails as well). How on earth could you think that's worth more than 80 euro?
But don't get me started on the exorbitant level of Fees for professional services in Ireland! The cost of living over there was one of the main reasons I left - along with the crappy weather.