In today’s environment of largely globalizing national economies, international economic integration does not stop at the frontiers of the European Union. Many non-EU-based enterprises are carrying on business in the European Union through the operation of branches or subsidiaries established in EU Member States, and a large number of EU-based enterprises maintain a diversified range of investments outside the Union. Accordingly, in both inward and outward investment relationships, ‘economic openness’ is key nowadays. This legal relationship between EU Member States and the EU as a whole vis-à-vis the rest of the world is the starting point of this book. The author analyses the ‘freedom of investment’ concept between EU Member States and non-EU States under EU law, and specifically its effect on company taxation regimes, from the perspective of multinational enterprises. Focusing on the impact of the Treaty freedoms and international integration agreements on relations with non-EU Member States, this work is the first to specifically address the all-important issue: Under which circumstances can investment-related rights deriving from EU law be invoked by companies established in non-EU states? The analysis identifies the impact of the EU Treaty freedoms on six basic corporate income tax themes that are of particular interest for multinational enterprises: limitation on the deduction of interest expenses; withholding taxes on dividend, interest, and royalty payments; relief for double taxation of income received from foreign investments; CFC legislation; non-deduction of foreign losses from the domestic taxable base; and company taxation upon the transnational transfer of business assets.

The book analyses the taxation of investment funds and their investors from the standpoint of domestic tax laws, tax treaties and EC law. It also provides a comprehensive understanding of the tax issues arising in the cross-border transactions of investment funds and private fund investors in the European Union. The viewpoints of the source state of income, residence state of the investment fund as well as the residence state of the investor are all considered. The book takes a comparative approach by covering five EU Member States (the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Finland). On the basis of the examination at the Member State level, the present tax rules and practices are tested against the fundamental freedoms of the EC Treaty. The conclusion is that there are still various tax measures that are likely to be in conflict with EC law. The book also discusses possibilities of adopting targeted measures of positive integration at the level of the European Union with a view to enhancing the objective of the single investment fund market.

The book deals with national sovereignty of Member States in tax matters, and the tensions created by the fact that the decisions by the European Court of Justice requires them to exercise consistently with the Community law. Contributions in the book cover a variety of critical issues, including the current and possible future effects of the internal market on the fiscal sovereignty of Member States; the limits that European law imposes on Member States' policy sovereignty in matters of international tax law; the effect of European law on taxes levied by local authorities; and the consequences the Treaty of Lisbon may have for Member States' fiscal sovereignty.

This book is the first in-depth study to analyze the circumstances in which the freedom of establishment or free movement of capital may apply to the cross-border distribution of dividends. It covers both the positive integration set forth by the European Commission and the Member States and the negative integration developed by the European Court of Justice. The author discusses such elements of these integration measures as the following: economic double taxation (two different subjects pay tax on the same profit); juridical double taxation (two different states tax one and the same person for the same income); exemption, credit, and other techniques adopted by States to avoid double taxation; division of taxing rights between two States with respect to dividend income; prevention of juridical double taxation by bilateral tax conventions; Member States’ mitigation of economic double taxation; double exemption as an unplanned outcome of double taxation prevention measures; and order of precedence between freedom of establishment and free movement of capital. The analysis treats relevant provisions the OECD Model Tax Convention in detail, as this model is widely used by national tax authorities in connection with international taxation of dividends. It also examines pertinent initiatives launched by the European Commission up to and including its consultation paper of January 28, 2011. In addition to its scrutiny of the disparities in cross-border dividend taxation within the European Union, this book stands out for its detailed coverage of the progress made in resolving these challenging taxation issues. It is sure to be welcomed by investors, corporate counsel, and national revenue authorities.

Freedom of movement is a key principle of the European Union (EU) resulting in the right of every EU citizen to move and reside freely within the EU. Many EU citizens work in other Member States than their Member State of origin. Direct taxes are not as such covered in the treaties and therefore have much smaller bases for harmonization at EU level than indirect taxes. As a result, decisions of European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the clash between the EU principle of free movement and Member States’ direct tax rules have a significant effect on national direct tax systems. This book focuses on the relation between free movement rights of EU citizens and the legal autonomy of Member States in the area of direct taxation and will immediately engage tax practitioners and scholars. The author asks (and answers) the question: Has the willingness at EU level to make EU citizenship a key driver behind the integration process come at the expense of national direct tax autonomy? The book’s incomparably thorough analysis of the distinctive evolution, mainly via ECJ case law, of the relation between the EU principle of free movement of persons and Member States’ direct tax rules includes in-depth discussion of the following elements and more: – the concept of EU citizenship in the EU’s constitutional and institutional development; – how the ECJ has interpreted the concept of free movement with regard to economically inactive persons; – how the notion of EU citizenship has widened the ECJ’s view on treaty access; – how the ECJ has addressed the clash between free movement of persons and direct taxation in the EU’s constitutional context; and – numerous tax policy initiatives with regard to EU citizens before and after the Treaty of Lisbon This is the first book to investigate in such detail how the ECJ has tried to reconcile specific national direct tax rules with the general EU principle of free movement of persons from the perspective of EU citizenship. This book explains that the ECJ is in the process of reconceptualizing the market freedoms relating to the free movement of persons, also in the area of direct taxation, as part of a broader EU citizenship right for all economically active EU citizens to pursue an economic activity in a cross-border context; a right beyond the aim of realization of the internal market. As an extremely important analysis of the influence of EU law on the direct tax autonomy of Member States, this book is sure to be itself of great influence in the practice and study of taxation in the EU.

Group taxation – special schemes according to which a group of companies meeting certain requirements may be assimilated for tax purposes to a single company – exists in several European Member States and is now under consideration in an EU proposal concerning a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB). Its rationale as a potential EU tax regime has arisen from a series of high-profile ECJ cases concerning cross-border tax relief claims – decisions which have been criticized for lack of clarity and for breach of freedom of establishment (Article 49 TFEU). Group taxation has now become one of the most intensively debated issues in EU tax law. The papers collected in this timely book derive from an ACTL Seminar held at Amsterdam in April 2010. The thirteen authors are either well-known practitioners from major law firms and accounting firms, or noted European tax scholars, or both. Among the central issues covered in the book are the following: the underlying tax obstacles which exist for companies operating in more than one Member State; potential for tax avoidance; prevention of double use of losses (the ‘no possibilities’ test); disadvantages that arise as a consequence of the parallel exercise of fiscal sovereignty; the concept of ‘balanced allocation of taxing powers’; meaning of ‘final losses’; the ‘Bosal fix’; cash-flow disadvantages of having to carry losses forward; deduction of currency losses; deduction-and-recapture rules; and VAT grouping.

Although EU Member States have retained national sovereignty in tax matters, a consistent line of decisions by the European Court of Justice requires them to exercise these powers consistent with superseding Community law. In other words, the Member States are not wholly autonomous. This in turn creates serious tensions. This timely resource covers a variety of critical issues, including the current and possible future effects of the internal market on the fiscal sovereignty of Member States; the limits that European law imposes on Member States’ policy sovereignty in matters of international tax law; the effect of European law on taxes levied by local authorities; and the consequences the Treaty of Lisbon may have for Member States’ fiscal sovereignty.

It is well known that investments in real estate provide relatively stable yields compared with stock market volatility, so it is not surprising that, with globalisation, investors have pursued such opportunities across borders, especially where foreign countries offer beneficial tax regimes. Nor it is surprising that states should fear erosion of their tax base in the presence of such investments. This groundbreaking book – the first in-depth comparative analysis of taxation of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in different European Union (EU) Member States – investigates the impact of EU law on direct taxation in the case of REITs, and whether EU policies in this area have led national legislators to adjust their REIT regimes. Presenting detailed case studies of three EU Member States – France (a well-established REIT regime), Bulgaria (a new accession state) and Spain (a recent REIT regime) – this book explores the idea of a harmonised EU REIT, and whether harmonisation among national REIT regimes may be possible. Among the issues and topics arising in the course of the presentation are the following: – ‘goodness of fit’ and adaptational soft pressure; – relevant case law from the European Court of Justice, including both tax and company law; – ‘REIT shopping’; – noncompliance of REIT regimes with EU law; and – criteria for the ‘misfit’ analysis of REIT regimes and potential infringements of EU law. The analysis ultimately documents conditions and circumstances for the creation of a harmonised ‘Euro-REIT’ by assessing the level of change on the area of direct taxation within the Member States which would be needed for such a creation to become reality, identifying common themes across different legal systems that could assist the harmonisation of laws. Throughout, a holistic view is taken, linking tax and company law with considerations of sovereignty, policy and culture. In its structured framework comparing REIT regimes, this incomparable study takes a giant step towards overcoming resistance to a common REIT taxation regime in the EU. As the first comparative study of REIT regimes to identify an emerging common understanding informed by European jurisprudence and Europeanisation policy and theory, it is sure to be welcomed by practitioners, academics and policymakers in European law and international taxation as well as European studies.