Request for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Köln in the case Deister Holding.
Does Article 43 in conjunction with Article 48 EC (now Article 49 in conjunction with Article 54 TFEU) preclude national tax legislation such as that at issue in the main proceedings which denies relief from investment income tax on distributions of profits made to a non-resident parent company whose sole shareholder is resident within the country, to the extent that persons have holdings in it who would not be entitled to the refund or exemption if they earned the income directly, and
(1) there are no economic or other substantial reasons for the involvement of the non-resident parent company, or
(2) the non-resident parent company does not earn more than 10 % of its entire gross income for the financial year in
question from its own economic activity (there being no such activity, inter alia, if the foreign company earns its
gross income from the management of assets), or
(3) the non-resident parent company does not take part in general economic commerce with a business establishment
suitably equipped for its business purpose,
whereas resident parent companies are granted relief from investment income tax without regard to the aforementioned requirements?
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