The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to verify whether the new Gibraltar corporate tax regime selectively favours certain categories of companies, in breach of EU state aid rules.
The Commission will in particular examine the exemption for passive income such as royalties and interest from corporate tax. The opening of an in-depth investigation gives interested third parties an opportunity to submit comments on the measures under assessment; it does not prejudge the outcome. The new Gibraltar corporate tax scheme was introduced by the Income Tax Act (ITA) 2010. It is based on the territorial principle: all activities deriving from or accrued in Gibraltar are taxed. However, there exists an exemption for passive income (i.e. dividends, royalties and certain types of interest), which is no longer subject to tax in Gibraltar irrespective of where the source of the income is located.
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