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It has long been known that refunds take a long time (the mills grind much slower in southern Europe ... Siesta is more important😇). But as far as I know, you can also bundle the whole thing over several years so that you don't have the hassle every year because of a few euros. However, I have no experience of this myself as Italy is not an investment country for me due to the policies that have been in place for years (Berlussconi, Meloni, etc.). But there is no question that there are good companies in Italy that are worth investing in - but I wouldn't make this dependent on withholding tax. And there are countries where it is even more complicated or almost impossible to get withholding tax back (France would be an example of this)
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@Dividenden-Sammler Germany is significantly worse than the south in terms of bureaucracy. I have already been waiting 9 months for my refund of the German withholding tax and am also considering selling my German shares because of this.

Another comparison: birth of my last child:
1) Spain: all the bureaucracy done in 3 weeks and almost everything online
2) Germany: had to send everything in paper form via the consulate to Germany, still haven't received a birth certificate after 11 months...
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@Da_Fischi Fortunately, I don't have the problem with Germany and tax reclaims. But I can well imagine that investors from other countries have problems. I do it every year with my tax return .... which also takes an abnormally long time.
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