Perhaps your fund is not recovering all monies owed to them?! Enter Ari Davidowitz! : Tax Recovery Expert, Managing Director of WTax. Ari works hard to recover tax withholdings for clients worldwide. This is a complicated area of shareholder recoveries but Ari makes it easy to understand and will be instrumental in putting money back into your fund’s portfolio. Ari is also a committed husband and a fun and loving dad. Listen to our conversation and we share the process, risks, and benefits of tax withholdings and tax refunds.
Show Notes For Collection and Recovery of Tax Withholdings
00:56 – Ari shares the backstory of starting WTax and how withholding tax is affecting institutional funds investing in foreign equities
- WTax is the world’s largest indirect tax recovery specialists assisting thousands of corporate around the globe.
- Soon after he started the company, they are getting inquiries about withholding tax and if they can assist them.
- Upon thorough research, they concluded that what fund managers with foreign investments are suffering from withholding tax due to Double Tax Treaties between U.S. and other countries.
- The process of receiving these refunds is very cumbersome and a lot of their clients at that time were not receiving their full refunds.
04:00 – Ari defines tax recovery in layman’s terms
- If a US company investing in a French company. Every time that a company received a French dividend income from, the French tax authorities withhold over and above the double tax treaty in place between US and France.
- Because of the treaty in place between US and France, the US company who invested will get the withholding tax down to the treaty rate.
- WTax assists companies getting back withholding tax held at the foreign tax office down to the treaty rate.
- A substantial fund can amount to billions of dollars in returns.
11:30 – A case as to why tax recovery should be delegated away from the fund custodian to a specialist
- For funds to run properly as possible, tax recovery should be handled by a specialist because tax recovery specialists like WTax can maximize the returns as possible.
12:20 – How WTax earn from institutional funds and how much tax recovery should their clients expect annually
- For a $10 Billon fund, it will depend on foreign exposure. Some clients of WTax can receive $20M – $30M in returns.
- Trillion-dollar clients earn as much $150M – $200M in returns annually.
- WTax’ fees are based on a contingency basis. There is no upfront cost and purely on success-based fee. The only time that a client will pay is when the refund comes through, and they take a percentage agreed upon.
16:45 – How WTax gained 370 clients despite the pandemic
- When the pandemic started, Ari was nervous at first because they are an in-person business where they travel around the world meeting clients and that’s how they built rapport.
- WTax adapted to the Zoom-based, working from home setup and surprisingly had the best year of the company in terms of business development.
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About The Host
As a securities class action attorney, my goal is to assist you in maximizing claim recoveries related to your investment portfolio, including direct claims, class action claims, class action settlement claims, derivative claims, tax recovery claims, and where appropriate to pursue whistleblower claims and more that help to protect the integrity of the securities markets. My podcast provides the legal and investment community to which my private investor, public fund, and union fund clients belong, with up-to date- information relevant to their investment portfolios. I want to assure my clients that while we may not have seen one another in person these past months, I have been working diligently on your behalf to continue to provide our practice leading services while maintaining my high level of personal attention that I believe is essential to an authentic and long lasting relationship with my clients.
For more information on ways to join cases and to increase your investment portfolio recoveries read my blogs and listen to my Pensions and Investments podcast. Providing information and creative ways to ensure my clients recover all monies due to them in the simplest ways is my overarching goal.
Atara Twersky, is of counsel at AF&T. Atara is also the bestselling author of the children’s book series, Curlee Girlee, inspired by her own young curly haired daughter and written for all curly girls in an effort to ensure they love themselves and their hair exactly as it is, understanding that their hair is part of a greater legacy they share with those who came before them. You can find out more about Atara here. Listen to other podcast episodes Pensions and Investments podcast with Atara Twersky here or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!