FORM 20-F THOMSON multimedia - Technicolor

A simplified certificate must state that:
) you are a U.S. resident within the meaning of the Treaty;
) you do not maintain a permanent establishment or fixed base in France with which the
holding giving rise to the dividend is effectively connected;
) you own all the rights attached to the full ownership of the shares (including dividend rights);
) you meet all the requirements of the Treaty for obtaining the benefit of the reduced rate of
withholding tax and the refund of the avoir fiscal; and
) you claim the reduced rate of withholding tax and payment of the avoir fiscal.
If a holder that is not an individual submits an application for refund on form RF 1 A EU-
No. 5052, the application must be accompanied by an affidavit attesting that the holder is the owner
of all the rights attached to the full ownership of the shares (including dividend rights) or, if the
holder is not the owner of all such rights, providing certain information concerning other owners.
Copies of the simplified certificate and the application for refund are available from the
U.S. Internal Revenue Service. If the certificate or application is not filed prior to a dividend payment,
then holders may claim withholding tax and avoir fiscal refunds by filing an application for refund at
the latest by December 31 of the second year following the year in which the withholding tax is paid.
If you are not entitled to a refund of the avoir fiscal but are entitled to a full refund of the
précompte, or if you are a U.S. pension fund or other tax-exempt U.S. holder that is entitled to a
partial refund of the précompte, you must apply for such a refund by filing French Treasury form RF
lB EU-No. 5053 before the end of the year following the year in which the dividend was paid. This
form, together with instructions, is available from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or at the Centre
des Impôts des Non-Résidents (9, rue d’Uzès, 75094 Paris Cedex 2).
United States Federal Income Taxation
Under the United States federal income tax laws, and subject to the passive foreign investment
company, or PFIC rules discussed below, if you are a U.S. holder, you must include in your gross
income the gross amount of any dividend paid by us out of our current or accumulated earnings and
profits (as determined for United States federal income tax purposes). You must include any French
tax withheld from the dividend payment in this gross amount even though you do not in fact receive
it. The dividend is ordinary income that you must include in income when you, in the case of shares,
or the Depositary, in the case of ADSs, receive the dividend, actually or constructively. The dividend
will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction generally allowed to United States
corporations in respect of dividends received from other United States corporations. The amount of
the dividend distribution that you must include in your income as a U.S. holder will be the U.S. dollar
value of the euro payments made, determined at the spot euro/U.S. dollar rate on the date the
dividend distribution is includible in your income, regardless of whether the payment is in fact
converted into U.S. dollars. Generally, any gain or loss resulting from currency exchange fluctuations
during the period from the date you include the dividend payment in income to the date you convert
the payment into U.S. dollars will be treated as ordinary income or loss. The gain or loss generally
will be income or loss from sources within the United States for foreign tax credit limitation purposes.
Distributions in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for United
States federal income tax purposes, will be treated as a non-taxable return of capital to the extent of
your basis in the shares or ADSs and thereafter as capital gain.
Subject to generally applicable limitations, the French tax withheld in accordance with the Treaty
and paid over to France will be creditable against your United States federal income tax liability. To
the extent a refund of the tax withheld is available to you under French law or under the Treaty, the
amount of tax withheld that is refundable will not be eligible for credit against your United States
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