Tax & Legal

In a recent decision, the Hamburg Tax Court commented on the deduction of income-related expenses in connection with dividends from portfolio investments paid to a family foundation who itself is not exempt from corporation tax.

While calculating the participation threshold in Sec. 8b (4) Sentence 1 Corporate Tax Act for portfolio dividends (shareholdings of less than 10%) the general principles of the attribution of assets for tax purposes laid down in Sec. 39 Fiscal Code must be observed. According to a most recent judgment of the Supreme Tax Court the decisive factor is the economic ownership of the shares.

The trade tax addback of foreign portfolio dividends in the year 2001 is in line with the EU provision on the free movement of capital in Article 63 TFEU (formerly: Article 56 TEC). This was decided by the European Court of Justice in an answer to a preliminary request submitted by the Supreme Tax Court.

The German rules on the procedure and documentation requirements for withholding tax refunds to non-resident portfolio shareholders are not compatible with the EU principles on the free movement of capital, as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said in a most recent decision.

In his Opinion of 20 January 2022, the Advocate General (AG) suggests to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that Germany’s requirements for withholding tax claims filed by non-resident corporate taxpayers with seat or place of management in the EU or EEA are too strict in two respects and thus in violation of Article 63 TFEU on the free movement of capital.

The Bundesrat has passed a bill to charge dividend income on investments of less than 10% to corporation tax.