ECJ: Advocate General finds Belgian rules on inclusion of dividends in taxable base followed by 95% deduction insofar as parent company makes profits incompatible with Parent-Subsidiary Directive – details

On 8 May 2008, Advocate General (AG) Eleanor Sharpston of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave her opinion in the case of Belgische Staat v. Cobelfret NV (C-138/07). Details of the opinion are summarized below.

(a) Facts. In each year from 1992 to 1998, Cobelfret NV (Cobelfret), a company established in Belgium, received dividends from its holdings in both Belgium and the United Kingdom. It is understood that Cobelfret and its relevant subsidiaries quali…