We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: Jeroen Lammers & Błażej Kuźniacki, The EU Solidarity Contribution and a More Proportional Alternative: A Study Under EU and International Investment Law This paper reviews the EU Solidarity Contribution that was recently introduced by…

We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: Han Kogels, A Changing World Making the Road to Carbon Neutrality Even More Bumpy Since the Conference of the Parties (COP) in Glasgow in November 2021 (COP26) the world has changed dramatically. In February…

State aid law is closely linked to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) commitment to creating, maintaining, and strengthening a common market in which competition is not distorted. Precisely what characterises companies that form part of a group of companies (multinational or not) is that transactions carried out between them are…

In his conclusions in Case C-571/21 on 13 October 2022 [1], AG Rantos addressed the exemption from excise duties for electricity intended to produce more electricity. The case concerns the refusal by the German customs authorities concerning the application for an exemption from excise duties made by a local company which extracted lignite in open-air…

 Summary The Court of the European Free Trade Association – the EFTA equivalent of the CJEU – now also is demarcating the room for manoeuvre for the Member States in company tax matters within the scope of the EEA Treaty freedoms by reference to the arm’s-length standard. The EFTA Court does so in the same…

The very recent CJEU judgement in Berlin Chemie A. Menarini v Administraţia Fiscală pentru Contribuabili Mijlocii Bucureşti (Case C-333/20) ECLI:EU:C:2022:291, admirably examined by Giorgio Beretta last week considered the circumstances in which a subsidiary might be a VAT fixed establishment (FE) of its parent company or another affiliate. A Romanian company supplied advertising, marketing and…

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), by means of an Order in Case C-255/20 of 9 November 2021 [1], established the incompatibility with EU law, in particular with Directives 2008/118/EC and 92/12/EEC, of the Italian Regional Tax on Petrol for Automotive (IRBA), due to the absence of a specific purpose attributed to…

Territorial connection (or its more fashionable name “nexus”) for tax purposes is expressed in a variety of ways in domestic and international legal instruments. Permanent establishment in article 5 of the Model treaties and “fixed base” in article 14 of the UN Model are central concepts in direct tax subject matter jurisdiction. Fixed establishment The…

In the first part of this article, the authors provided an overview of the Blackrock case. In the second part of this article, the authors consider the DBKAG case and reflect on the impact that these decisions have on businesses in the short and mid-term. 2.2 Is the supply of a specific software capable of…

In this article, which is divided in two parts, the authors consider two judgments from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in respect of the VAT exemption for the management of funds. In particular, the authors examine how these judgments deal with the issue of digitalisation and outsourcing. Part 1 of this…

The Trade Agreement between the EU and the UK rules out any direct effect. However, the Trade Agreement could have an indirect effect. EU Member States should interpret the capital ownership provisions in their bilateral tax treaties with the UK in line with the Trade Agreement and its provision on national treatment. On the basis…

Introduction The first part of my reflections on case C-77/19 Kaplan International Colleges UK (further referred to as Kaplan) concerned the relationship between membership in a VAT group on the one hand and a cost-sharing group on the other. In this article, I will comment on the questions referred to the CJEU, which the Court…

On 18 November 2020, the CJEU delivered its judgment in case C-77/19 Kaplan International Colleges UK[1] (I will further refer to it as Kaplan). The questions which had been referred by the UK national court in the case had raised hopes that the CJEU would provide important clarifications as to the geographical scope of application…

On 4 March 2021, the CJEU issued a ruling on Frenetikexito (Case C-581/19) that is bound to throw Portuguese gym-goers off-balance. For some time, the Portuguese tax authorities have been assessing VAT on nutrition counselling provided by fitness studios on the basis such services are dependent and ancillary to fitness training. In a series of…