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Deadline calculator for withholding-tax refunds
Every tax administration runs its own clock: 2 to 5 years to reclaim the over-withholding, counted sometimes from the payment date, sometimes from the end of the year. Once the date has passed, the money is permanently lost — that is the one real urgency in this business. Enter your dividend's payment date: this calculator tells you how much time you have left, country by country.
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The simplified rules
Two ways of counting, one same cut-off
Every administration grants a claim window, but they do not count it the same way. Two logics cover our 11 countries.
Calendar year-end
The clock only starts on 31 December of the payment year. The counter-intuitive consequence: a dividend received in January enjoys almost a full 'free' year compared with a December dividend from the same year — both expire on the same day.
- Switzerland3 yrs
- Germany4 yrs
- United Kingdom *4 yrs
- Netherlands *3 yrs
- Canada2 yrs
- Australia *4 yrs
- Ireland4 yrs
- Austria5 yrs
- Sweden *5 yrs
Anniversary date
The clock starts on the payment day, to the day. Each dividend line therefore has its own deadline: a portfolio that distributes every quarter drops due dates all year round.
- United States3 yrs
- Japan5 yrs
What this calculator cannot guarantee
These rules are deliberately simplified. Some countries count by their own tax year, which does not always end on 31 December; others make the computation depend on when a tax return was filed. Lines marked 'to be confirmed' carry known uncertainty. That is why your claim's exact deadline is always recomputed and verified before any filing — and if it has already passed, we tell you rather than file a claim doomed to rejection.
Country database — version 2026-06.1 · indicative deadlines, reviewed regularly
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about limitation periods
What happens once the deadline has passed?
The over-withheld tax is permanently lost. No administration processes a late claim, and no provider — us included — can change that. If someone promises to recover a time-barred dividend, that is a red flag, not a solution.
Is the deadline the same in every country?
No. Across the 11 countries we cover, it runs from 2 years (the shortest, Canada) to 5 years, and the starting point varies: sometimes the payment date, sometimes the end of the calendar year. That is exactly what this calculator compares for you.
Is the displayed date contractual?
No: it is a simplified rule, computed from data that is reviewed regularly but remains indicative. Before any filing, we recompute your claim's exact deadline (local tax year, return filing date, special cases) and confirm whether the window is still open.
My deadline expires in under 6 months — what should I do?
Open the claim without waiting. Priority handling (€89 per claim close to its limitation deadline, on top of the success fee) moves your claim to the front of the queue. And if verification shows the exact date has already passed, we tell you before starting anything.
The deadline is only half the question
The other half: how much these dividends can give back. The simulator puts a figure on your over-withholding in two minutes, no account needed.
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