Tax & Legal

The Cologne Tax Court is of the opinion that the preclusion of German employees resident in Switzerland for full assessment of German income tax is contrary to EU law and had referred the case to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling. In his Opinion, the Advocate General considers that the German regulation contravenes the Agreement for the Free Movement of Persons between the EU and Switzerland.

According to the Cologne Tax Court, the preclusion of German employees resident in Switzerland for full assessment of German income tax is contrary to EU law. The court has referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling with respect to the Agreement for the Free Movement of Persons between the EU and Switzerland.

The ECJ held that the expatriate exit tax rule under Section 6 Foreign Tax Act contravened the principle of non-discrimination contained in the Agreement for the Free Movement of Persons between the EU and Switzerland.

An ECJ advocate general has suggested the court rule that there is no conflict between the discrimination prohibition of the EU/Swiss free movement agreement and the Swiss/German double tax treaty provision for the continued German taxation of German source income of a former resident.