On 5 July 2017, the European Commission (EC) has published an interesting decision (C(2017) 4237 final) with respect to a beneficial Swedish (para-) fiscal regime regarding employee share options for certain small and medium-sized companies (SA.47144). TL;DR - (Para-) fiscal advantage for employee stock options can constitute (in-) direct economic advantage for employer - Measures … Continue reading (Para-) fiscal advantages for employee stock options and EU state aid law
State Aid
Spanish property tax exemption for Catholic Church not sacrosanct from State aid perspective
On 27 June 2017, the Court of Justice (CJ) – sitting in Grand Chamber – has rendered judgment in another fiscal State aid case concerning a tax exemption granted by Spain to the Catholic Church (Case C-74/16 Congregación de Escuelas Pías Provincia Betania). The case touches upon a number of interesting issues, which will be … Continue reading Spanish property tax exemption for Catholic Church not sacrosanct from State aid perspective
State aid: national courts struggling with selectivity requirement
TL;DR - Questions of selectivity of tax advantages increasingly raised by national authorities to deny application of such advantage - In case at hand, selectivity of 'intragroup restructuring' exemption with respect to real estate transfer tax examined by German Bundesfinanzhof, which has doubts and refers the matter to the Court of Justice Introduction In recent years, the interpretation … Continue reading State aid: national courts struggling with selectivity requirement
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