Opinion Statement ECJ-TF 1/2016 on the Judgment of 17 September 2015 of the Court of Justice of the EU in the Combined Cases C-10/14, Miljoen, C-14/14, X, and C-17/14, Société Générale, on the Dutch Dividend With-holding Tax

Abstract

This article deals with the decision taken by the Court of Justice of the European Union in Miljoen and others (Joined Cases C-10/14, C-14/14 and C-17/14), in respect of which the Third Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) delivered its decision on 17 September 2015, following the Opinion of Advocate General Jääskinen of 25 June 2015. The cases concern the taxation of dividends received by individual and corporate non-resident taxpayers. They answer several questions in respect of the appropriateness of levying dividend withholding taxes, such as the need to allow for an offset against ordinary income tax, the deductibility of related costs and the relevance of an offset granted by a tax treaty. After illustrating the factual background, parties' arguments and the ECJ's decision, this Opinion Statement will focus on issues that the ECJ has left open.