Dutch Appeals Court Upholds Lower Court Decision that MFN Clause in Tax Treaty with South Africa Triggered by MFN Clause of South Africa-Sweden Treaty

A recent decision of the Dutch Court of Appeals (Gerechtshof 's-Hertogenbosch) was published on 31 August 2017 concerning whether the dividends MFN clause added by the 2008 protocol to the 2005 Netherlands-South Africa tax treaty was triggered by way of the dividends MFN clause added by the 2010 protocol to the 1995 South Africa-Sweden tax treaty.

The case involved a 2013 payment of dividends from a Dutch subsidiary to a South African shareholder, for which 5% tax was withheld. In 2014, th…