JCI Future Dividend Withholding

February 15, 2017

I foolishly said my last president’s message might be the final one addressing JCI’s transition issues. There may be more issues to discuss than I thought, so as I ended the last message, I’ll start this one – “Never say Never”. If you have no JCI stock you can grin and skip the rest of this. If you are reading this message on WSJSociety.com several links are active and sign-on is not required.

Will 20% of future JCI dividends be withheld by Ireland? Adient as well?

This question is bouncing around the retirees. There is a section in that 500+ page joint proxy statement/prospectus (dated July 6, 2016) book that you got last summer, which discusses the 20% Irish Withholding Tax on Dividends DWT (see pages 234-235 in print, 226-228 in electronic version “Irish Tax Considerations“). (click on the title to view a copy)

While it clearly states that a US resident is exempt from this Irish withholding tax, there seems to be differing procedures on just how you tell whoever makes that withholding decision that you are a United States resident shareholder. I have some information on two of the many financial houses that could be holding any shares you may have.

Wells Fargo held shares:

The phone # on JCI’s site for shareholder services sends you to Wells Fargo. I called them and they stated that you must register with an entity called Globetax.com and they will (for a service fee) handle the paperwork and send you a document for signature, that will prevent the 20% withholding for 5 years, after which time you need to renew the documents.

Our fellow retiree Arlene Gumm has put together a step-by-step procedure which you can link to HERE, if you are reading this online.

If you are reading the paper version of this message you can start with the Wells Fargo # (from JCI’s shareholder page) 877-602-7397 or Globetax.com with # 855-849-3119. Both Arlene and I spoke to a JCI knowledgeable person at GlobeTax named Mizan about this procedure.

Fidelity held shares:

I spoke to my Fidelity representative and he took me two layers deeper into Fidelity’s back offices to get confirmation that they are taking care of the necessary procedures for me, so I do not need to do more. That sounds great to me! But I will be checking my next several dividend payments to make sure no funds have gone elsewhere.

There may be a one year grace period on this Withholding Tax on Dividends (thru 8-17-2017) so a simple look back at your 1-6-2017 dividend payment received may not be a sufficient check for your future withholding exemption.

CHECK with whoever holds your JCI stock.

You probably don’t want 20% of you future dividends deposited in an Irish account instead of yours. If you find different procedures than I have described, let us know and we may be able to alert other retirees. But don’t wait to hear from us, or trust this message only – we’re not tax advisors either.

Until the next topic – whatever it may be.

Gene Strehlow 262-251-0166

 

Editor’s Add: Again, here’s that link to the step-by-step procedure developed by Arlene Gumm “Johnson Controls Dividends”. Thanks Arlene!