Dividends from Croatia – refund of the higher Italian tax due to the impossibility of offsetting the tax from abroad

Dividends received from Croatia by resident individuals are normally subject to Article 27(4) of Presidential Decree 600/73, which provides for a withholding tax of 26% on the total dividend received, without distinguishing between qualifying and non-qualifying holdings. This withholding tax is withheld after the foreign dividend has already been taxed at source in Croatia (in this case at no more than 15%).

According to the Italian tax authorities, the withholding tax levied by the source state cannot be offset in Italy.

However, current case law must be taken into account, which allows the amount paid abroad to be deducted from the substitute tax on dividends in accordance with Article 18 TUIR and must therefore be refunded.