CJEU - Recent Developments in Direct Taxation 2021

S. 21. Introduction

As in previous years, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is dealing with quite a number of cases that relate to French direct tax law. In this contribution, we will discuss two international distribution of dividend cases and one fundamental freedom case. The first case, decided, concerns the (gross or net) tax base to limit the deductible tax credit (règle du butoir) provided by Double Tax Treaty (“DTT”) to avoid, as much as possible, juridical double taxation (Société Générale case) (Section 2). The cases that are still pending deal with the advance payment of tax (précompte mobilier) related to the old French tax credit (avoir fiscal) designed to prevent economic double taxation and, with the obligation placed on tax lawyers, to report “cross-border arrangements” to tax authorities. Interestingly, both of these last two cases relate to a request for a preliminary ruling not only to interpret EU secondary acts but also to decide on their validity. There is potential incompatibility between (i) in the Schneider Electric case (Section 4), the Parent-Subsidiary Directive (“PSD”) and the free movement of capital, and (ii) in the Conseil national des barreaux case (Sec...