I know it is a bit of a pain to reclaim withholding tax on German companies. I wondered if buying ADRs helps at all? e.g. does the ADR structure claim the WHT for you or are you still left with the same problem?
Thanks @PhilMongoose for bringing that up. I would be very interested in this also for French companies as it’s as cumbersome to reclaim as for German companies.
@PhilMongoose, I was doing some research and it appears that for the ADR at IBKR it’s the same process for withhold tax as for any other US security (shares or ETF) I’m seriously considering this option now for SAP, Sanofi und maybe Novo Nordisc (although claiming danish wht should be easier)
Wait, wait. Who said that you will reclaim Danish or whatever WHT from ADRs? My expectation is that it is lost when “real” shares pay dividends to the structure that issues ADR. And they also take their fees from these dividends.
Now when I am thinking about it, it’s like one-share ETF 
. With all implications.
For Novo Nordisc I was actually considering the normal share as the danish wht tax seems to be on a page (checked that and seems straight forward) and hence not as cumbersome as the German and/or French system. So the plan is German and French shares as ADR and Novo keep researching how hard it is to reclaim and the. Decide.
The coast of the ADR would be interesting to evaluate indeed somebody somehow will get paid to have this setup
German and French ADR will get German and French tax at source withholding. Tax wise, there is no difference between “a local” stock vs ADR
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