The audit firm Grant Thornton AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft will rely on the technology of the fintech company RAQUEST in future to provide international financial institutions with a new offer called “MiKaDiv as a Service”. The goal of this cooperation is to establish a fully digital and regulatory-compliant solution for the MiKaDiv reporting procedure under Section 45c of the German Income Tax Act (EStG) and to position both companies as leading providers in the field of international tax reporting.
As part of their collaboration in withholding tax management, Grant Thornton will integrate RAQUEST’s “MiKaDiv for Foreign Banks” technology into its service portfolio to deliver a completely digital reporting solution. This enables banks and financial intermediaries to meet their reporting obligations to German tax authorities automatically and with significantly less effort. With this initiative, RAQUEST and Grant Thornton are responding to the growing complexity of international reporting processes and tightening regulatory requirements in the financial sector.
In the future, the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) will require the electronic reporting procedure MiKaDiv (reporting of capital income and dividends), which allows foreign credit institutions to electronically transmit capital income and dividend data from German sources directly to the tax authorities. This is a complex process that would otherwise be technically demanding and resource-intensive for many institutions. The cooperation between RAQUEST and Grant Thornton directly addresses this challenge. By combining technological automation with regulatory and professional expertise, the two companies are creating a practical solution that significantly reduces the burden on financial institutions.
With “MiKaDiv as a Service”, RAQUEST and Grant Thornton aim to establish a standardized, secure, and efficient reporting process that integrates seamlessly into existing systems. At the same time, the partnership lays the foundation for future developments, particularly in anticipation of the EU FASTER Directive, which is scheduled to take effect in 2030.
“Grant Thornton relies on our product and solution landscape for the rollout of its MiKaDiv service. This underscores RAQUEST’s leadership not only in the digitalization of withholding tax reclaims and relief-at-source processes, but also in taking a technological leadership role in MiKaDiv – and soon, in FASTER-reporting as well,” says Alexander Lerch, CEO of RAQUEST.
“From 1 January 2027, foreign banks must submit reportable information on dividends and beneficial owners to German paying agents in a digital and structured format (MiKaDiv reporting). This ensures forwarding to the Federal Central Tax Data Office (BZSt) and the assignment of the reference numbers required for reclaiming withholding taxes from German dividend payments. The new requirements pose considerable technical and compliance challenges for many institutions. In addition to tax advice on the subject, the joint solution with RAQUEST now also offers a customer-specific interface implementation to prepare data for future FASTER reporting – all in reliable compliance with German tax regulations,” says Dieter Kühnel, partner in the Financial Services Tax division at Grant Thornton.
Grant Thornton AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft is one of the ten largest auditing companies in Germany. Around 2,000 employees at ten locations serve both upper mid-sized companies and listed companies. The auditing and consulting firm consists of the business areas Audit & Assurance, Tax, Advisory and Legal. The company is legally independent and autonomous. In order to provide its national clients with effective international support, the company is a member of the international network Grant Thornton International Ltd. (GTIL). GTIL and its member firms are not a global partnership, but legally independent companies. With around 76,000 employees in 156 countries, the Grant Thornton network advises companies around the world.
For further information: www.grantthornton.de
RAQUEST is a leading fintech company specializing in withholding tax management for financial institutions. As part of the Halvotec Group, RAQUEST has been providing innovative software solutions for the efficient processing of withholding taxes for over 15 years. RAQUEST enables financial institutions to meet regulatory requirements, increase efficiency, and reduce costs while maximizing investor returns. The modular B2B software supports all common tax relief procedures and has established itself as the market leader in withholding tax processing with a customer portfolio of renowned financial institutions.
For further information: raquest.tax
