VAT and Other Indirect Taxes

Short Reads - On 22 February 2018 the European Court of Justice ('ECJ') decided on two cases (C-398/16 and C-399/16), which are relevant for purposes of the 'per-element-approach' concerning the Dutch corporate income tax ('CIT') fiscal unity regime. To mitigate the (negative financial) impact of the decisions of the ECJ, the Dutch State Secretary announced last year that new legislation (with retroactive effect to 25 October 2017) will be introduced to amend the CIT fiscal unity regime.

Articles - Als gevolg van de KEI-wetgeving wordt digitaal procederen in het belastingrecht straks verplicht. In deze bijdrage bespreken Reinout de Boer en Tirza Cramwinckel de wijzigingen die de nieuwe regels meebrengen voor de fiscale procespraktijk.

Short Reads - The Amsterdam District Court requested a preliminary ruling with regard to turnover tax incurred as a consequence of a sale taking place by way of summary execution (Amsterdam District Court 5 July 2017, ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2017:4726, answered by the Supreme Court on 15 December 2017, ECLI:NL:HR:2017:3149)

Short Reads - On 15 December 2017 a ruling of the Dutch Supreme Court was published in which it is essentially ruled that the Dutch fiscal unity regime, by disallowing a fiscal unity between Dutch sister subsidiaries of a joint Israeli parent company, is not in breach of the non-discrimination clause as included in article 27(4) of the Dutch-Israel tax treaty (the "Treaty").

Articles - We reported before [1] on the consensus of the Belgian Federal Government to introduce an option to make the leasing of immovable property between professionals subject to VAT. This initiative was aborted due to budgetary constraints, but the Government has now agreed to reactivate it: this option to tax will be introduced as of 1 October 2018.

Short Reads - In this Tax Alert we will address the anxiously awaited ruling of the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") on the joined cases C-398/16 and C-399/16. This judgement deals with the question whether EU law obliges the Netherlands to let taxpayers cherry pick benefits from the fiscal unity regime. We also mention the announcement of the Dutch Ministry of Finance to improve the rules for obtaining tax rulings in the Netherlands.

Short Reads - Fiscale regelgeving wijzigt snel. In verband met de maatschappelijke belangstelling voor belastingplanning door multinationals en de initiatieven van de OESO en de EU, geldt dit eens te meer voor internationaal actieve ondernemingen.

Inside Stibbe - With effect from 1 January, Stibbe Amsterdam appoints lawyers Branda Katan and Reinout de Boer as partner. Branda Katan specialises in contractual disputes, fraud and class actions. Reinout de Boer is an expert in domestic and international taxation. Stibbe Brussels promotes Ian Arnouts (public law) as counsel.