CJEU – Recent Developments in Direct Taxation 2019

1. S. 158The Case

Case C-625/17 Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypothekenbank AG was decided by the CJEU on 22 November 2018. As far as the fact pattern and legal issue involved are concerned, it is a rather specific case, which might explain why it has not been given much attention (even after the ultimate CJEU ruling) in academic literature so far. Another reason for this case’s below-the-radar status is that the CJEU rendered its decision without requesting an Advocate General opinion, which might have given rise to commentary on the case while the CJEU’s ruling was pending.

Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypothekenbank AG is a case relating to the Austrian bank tax (in German: Stabilitätsabgabe). The Austrian bank tax is one example of a type of tax (or in some countries: levy) that was introduced by various domestic legislatures during the years after the 2008 financial crisis to tax a bank’s assets (and thereby implicitly its risk exposure). Among these bank taxes, the Austrian bank tax has played a notoriously prominent role. For some years (including the year in dispute in the case) the Austrian bank tax was one of the highest such taxes in the world (the level of tax has since been reduced, b...