In reaction to the ECJ¹s judgment of 20 October 2011, on 1 March 2013 Germany passed a law on 1 March 2013 according to which EU and EEA corporations are allowed to apply for a refund of the German dividend withholding tax on portfolio dividends under certain conditions. The refund procedure should generally apply to dividends received in 2013 and future periods but also retroactively to dividends received during the 2012 fiscal year or earlier, provided the statute of limitations has not yet lapsed.