LensCrafters 2006 Annual Report Download - page 67

DIVIDEND PROPOSAL
AND TAX REGIME |67 <
TAX REGIME - HOLDERS OF ADS
Dividends paid to beneficial owners who are not Italian residents and do not have a permanent
establishment in Italy to which the shares or ADSs are effectively connected, are generally subject
to a 27.0% substitute tax rate. Accordingly, the amount of the dividends paid to Deutsche Bank
Trust Company Americas, as depositary of the Ordinary Shares and the issuer of the ADSs,
through Deutsche Bank S.p.A, as custodian under the Deposit Agreement, will be subject to such
Italian substitute tax. Therefore, the amount of the dividends that the holders of ADS will initially
receive will be net of such substitute tax.
All non-Italian resident owners of ADSs will be given the opportunity to submit to Deutsche Bank
Trust Company Americas, in accordance with the procedure set forth by it, the documentation
attesting their residence for tax purposes in countries which have entered into tax treaties with Italy,
pursuant to which reduced tax rates might become directly applicable. Concurrently with the
delivery of the Proxy Statement, the Depositary has mailed to all ADS holders a document and
necessary forms setting forth the detailed procedure to be used by ADS holders for the purpose of
obtaining the direct application of the reduced tax rate under an applicable tax treaty. You can
download those documents also here:
Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas Reclaim Notice and Forms (Link to DTC document)
As soon as the required documentation is delivered by Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas to
Deutsche Bank S.p.A., such bank shall endeavor to effect, repayment of the entire 27.0% withheld
or the balance between the 27.0% withheld at the time of payment and the rate actually applicable
to the non-Italian resident ADS holder under a tax treaty, as the case maybe. By way of example,
Italy and United States (as well as many other countries) are parties to a tax treaty pursuant to
which the rate of the tax applicable to dividends paid by an Italian resident company to a U.S.
resident entitled to the benefits under the treaty may be reduced to 15.0%. Therefore, U.S. resident
ADS holders have the opportunity of being repaid a further 12.0% of the gross dividend, that is the
difference between the 27.0% withheld at the time of payment of the dividend and the 15.0%
substitute tax provided for by the Italy - U.S. tax treaty.
Please note that in order for ADS holder to take advantage of the accelerated tax refund (Quick
Refund), the certification by the respective Tax Authority must be dated before May 24, 2007
(the dividend payment date in Euro) and Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas or Deutsche
Bank S.p.A should receive the certification on or before September 21, 2007.
The Company recommends to all ADS holders who are interested in taking advantage of such an
opportunity,to request more detailed information as to the exact procedure to be followed from
Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas (ADR Department, telephone [phone]; fax +1
866 888-1120, attn. Gregory Lewis) or directly from the Company’s headquarters in Italy (telephone
[phone]; fax [phone]).
ADS holders are further advised that, once the amounts withheld are paid to the Italian Tax
Authorities, the ADS holders who are entitled to a reduced tax rate may only apply to the Italian Tax
Authorities to receive the reimbursement of the excess tax applied to the dividends received from
the Company. Such procedure customarily takes years before the reimbursement is actually made.
Therefore the above-mentioned procedure, for direct application of the reduced withholding rate
was established by Luxottica Group in the best interest of its shareholders.