Navigating the international tax market is complex, especially for pension fund finance teams who may not be tax experts in all investment jurisdictions. The extreme complexity and volume of tax documentation required by international tax authorities often results in excess withholding tax being suffered and a resulting backlog of outstanding tax reclaims with associated documentation and queries being imposed on pension fund personnel.
While the tax relief and reclaim process is supported by funds' custodians, there are certain limitations that require involvement by the pension fund finance team to receive reduced foreign tax rates, by proving their tax-exempt status in the relevant foreign investment jurisdiction.