The Court of Justice has given a judgment in the case Pensioenfonds Metaal en Techniek.
The Court hereby rules:
– Article 63 TFEU must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation under which the dividends distributed by a resident company are subject to a tax levied at source (a withholding tax) where those dividends are paid to a non-resident pension fund and, where those dividends are paid to a resident pension fund, to a tax calculated as a definitive lump sum and on a notional yield, which, over time, is intended to correspond to the normal taxation of all yields on capital under the general law regime ;
– it nevertheless precludes non-resident pension funds being prevented from taking into account any professional expenses directly linked to the receipt of dividends, where the calculation method for the tax base of resident pension funds allows them to be taken into account, that being a matter for the referring court to determine.
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