CJEU – Recent Developments in Direct Taxation 2015

I. S. 98Introduction

The preliminary ruling reference (C-194/15) from the Provincial Tax Court of Turin (hereinafter also the “Referring Court”) raises the issue of compatibility with the free movement of capital (set forth in Articles 63 and 65 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, hereinafter “TFEU”), of the Italian tax regime applicable to inbound dividends received by Italian resident individuals holding qualifying participations in companies resident in other Member States (i.e. France in the case at hand).

This paper is aimed at providing an overview of the issues raised by the preliminary ruling. In this respect, it first illustrates the facts (§ 2) as well as the relevant legislation (§ 3). Furthermore, it reports the issue raised by the Referring Court (§ 4) and, in the last section, (§ 5) it contains an analysis on what could be the position of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) with regard to the preliminary ruling of the Provincial Tax Court of Turin.

II. Facts of the preliminary ruling

The Italian tax authorities issued notices of assessment which amended the tax returns filed for the tax periods 2007 and 2008 by Ms. Véronique Baudinet and oth...