Landmark Decisions of the ECJ in Direct Taxation

Every professional dealing with taxation in the European Union will greatly appreciate this extraordinarily useful book.

Based on a high-level conference held at the University of Luxembourg in 2014, the book presents detailed expert summaries and analyses of landmark ECJ decisions in direct taxation, each case a starting point for the development of a specific doctrine.

The depth of the analysis, as each author charts a way through the nuances of the Court’s arguments, allows the reader to gain an unparalleled understanding of changes in the relevant subsequent jurisprudence.

The fundamental issues covered are the following:-

• taxation of non-residents in the EU context;
• implications of EU fundamental freedoms in the income tax systems of the Member States;
• outbound and inbound dividend taxation;
• taxation of permanent establishments;
• restrictions on freedom of establishment;
• tax treatment of corporate exit;
• abuse of taxpayers’ rights;
• cohesion of the tax system as an overriding factor in the public interest;
• juridical double taxation arising from the exercise of overlapping powers of two or more States;
• free movement of capital and third countries; and
• tax treatment of non-profit organizations in the cross-border context.

The book as a whole offers an incomparable critical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the Court’s reasoning and its path through the complex field of cross-border income taxation, particularly in the area of the compatibility of national tax legislation with the fundamental freedoms, which continues to be a powerful driver for changes to existing tax laws.

For legal academics, this is a unique and fundamental source of essential information and analysis. Crucially, although valuable as a ‘snapshot’ of the current state of EU tax law, this book will remain relevant for practitioners and policymakers as jurisprudence continues to develop over the years to come.