European tax law

The European Union is a common market without borders between the EU member states. The freedom of movement of goods, of services, of persons, of establishment and of capital are fundamental for the internal market of the EU, in which EU member states in the scope of these freedoms are not allowed to treat residents of other EU member States differently than their own nationals. Apart from development of the legislative framework, in particular the case law of European Court of Justice of the European Communities (ECJ) has contributed to the enforcement of these freedoms, and as such has made them to legal realities with a great impact on economical transactions between the EU member states and even beyond (in case of treaties with other countries).

Although the number of provisons in the EC Treaty that specifically deal with taxation is rather limited, the national tax law of the EU member states is subject to restrictions that not seldom have an impact on the structure of national tax regulations. For as far as stemming from the case-law of the ECJ, these restrictions have lead to a so-called negative harmonisation of national tax law. Distinct from this later process of harmonisation, positive harmonisation takes place by way of EC legislation, more in particular EC directives. Case-law shows that regularly an EU member state has to change its legislative or administrative practice in order to comply with community law. The consultancy services that we offer in the field of european tax law are focused on solving interpretation questions or practical issues about the application of community law in tax matters.