The countries where there is nothing to recover (and why we tell you)
The UK, the Netherlands, France seen from abroad, US dividends under a valid W-8BEN, ETFs: the honest list of the zeros — from a provider paid on success only, with no interest in hiding them.
Data reviewed on 8 min read
A provider paid on success has every incentive to let you believe there is money to recover everywhere. There isn't. On several of the markets French investors hold most, the over-withholding is nil by construction — and knowing it spares you two mistakes: paying someone for nothing, and wrongly suspecting your broker. Here is the honest list of the zeros, the conditional cases, and the trade's greatest false hope: ETFs.
| Country | Withheld | Owed by treaty | Why there is nothing to recover |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 0% | 0% | No withholding on ordinary dividends: nothing is taken, nothing is owed back. |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 15% | 15% | The rate withheld is already the treaty rate: the gap is nil. |
| 🇫🇷 France | 12.8% | 15% | Seen from abroad: the French withholding on a non-resident individual sits below the usual treaty rate. |
The United Kingdom: the most misunderstood zero
The United Kingdom levies no withholding at source on ordinary dividends — Shell, HSBC, Unilever or AstraZeneca pay you gross. If an amount nonetheless vanished on a UK line, three explanations dominate, and none is a treaty-recoverable withholding: brokerage or FX fees, a REIT distribution (Property Income Distributions do bear 20%, often reducible to 15%), or a dual-listed security actually distributing from another jurisdiction. The useful reflex is not "recover" but identify — exactly what the statement-reading walkthrough here does.
The Netherlands: the rate withheld is already the right one
The Netherlands withholds 15% — and the French-Dutch treaty allows… 15%. For an individual, the entry is settled in advance: ASML, Shell (NL line) or ING hide no over-withholding. Exceptions exist (exempt bodies, funds, technical over-withholding errors) but they do not concern the typical individual investor. Anyone billing you for a "Netherlands file" without first checking your status is selling you air.
France seen from abroad: below the treaty rate
The mirror case, useful if you know non-residents holding French shares: the French withholding on dividends paid to a non-resident individual is 12.8% — below the 15% treaties generally allow. So there is nothing to claim from the DGFiP in the standard case. French over-withholding only exists where the paying agent applied a wrong rate (the 25% reserved for certain entities, or a punitive rate) — real, but marginal.
The conditional zeros: the United States and Australia
Two major markets read zero when everything is in order. In the United States, a valid W-8BEN with your broker cuts withholding from 30% to 15% at payment: if that is your case, your US zero is good news, not a missed opportunity — check the expiry date here, it's free. In Australia, fully franked dividends (backed by corporate tax already paid) bear no withholding: that zero is structural, line by line. And the famous franking credits are not refundable to non-residents — any promise to the contrary is a red flag.
The greatest false hope: ETFs and funds
It is the most frequent question, and the answer disappoints: in an ETF or fund, the fund is legally the shareholder of the securities. The withholding levied on the dividends the fund collects is its business, handled (or not) at its level according to its domicile — it does not belong to you and cannot be claimed by you. What you receive from the fund is a fund distribution, a different tax object. A 100% ETF portfolio has, as a general rule, no recovery file to open — and we would rather tell you before the diagnostic than after a mandate.
What to do with your "zeros"
- Verify rather than assume. A theoretical zero can hide a real anomaly (a wrong rate applied, a UK REIT, an Australian unfranked portion): five minutes of statement reading settles it.
- Reallocate your attention. The energy saved on the zeros goes to the real pools — the full ranking is here: Finland, Ireland, Switzerland and company.
- Keep prevention in mind. The US zero only holds while the W-8BEN is valid: a silent expiry turns it into an over-withholding of 30% against 15%.
Your questions about the "zeros"
My broker withheld something on a UK share: what should I do?
Identify before acting: check whether the line is a REIT distribution (a genuine 20% withholding, often reducible), a dual-listed security distributing from another jurisdiction, or simply fees. If it is a genuinely misapplied withholding, it can be challenged — but with the right counterpart, which is not always a tax administration.
Why do you say publicly where there is nothing to gain?
Because our model only works on trust: we are paid on success only, an empty file costs us time and earns nothing, and a client who discovers a pointless file after the fact never comes back. Saying "zero" when it is zero is our best sales argument for the cases where there genuinely is money.
Does a distributing ETF really give me no claim at all?
No claim on the withholding levied inside the fund — it legally belongs to the fund. Your fund distribution follows its own tax regime in your residence country. The one practical exception: the securities you hold directly alongside your ETFs, which do fall under classic recovery.
Could the Netherlands become a "recovery country" again?
Rates move: a rise in the Dutch rate or a renegotiated treaty would change the picture. That is why our country database is versioned and reviewed regularly — the simulator always applies the gaps in force when you use it, and every file is re-checked before filing.
Free, no account — and if the result is zero, it shows zero.