On 15 May 2008, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave its decision in the case of Lidl Belgium GmbH & Co. KG v. Finanzamt Heilbronn (C-414/06). The Federal Finance Court (Bundesfinanzhof) had requested a preliminary from the ECJ on 28 July 2006.
The ECJ held that Art. 43 of the EC Treaty (freedom of establishment) does not preclude a situation in which a company established in a Member State cannot deduct from its tax base losses relating to a permanent…