News

Op maandag 4 maart 2019 is de internetconsultatie gestart van de
‘Wet excessief lenen bij eigen vennootschap’

Wij berichtten u eerder over de door het kabinet Rutte-III op Prinsjesdag 2018 aangekondigde ‘rekening-courantmaatregel’ (zie onder meer onze e-mails van 19 september 2018 en 16 oktober 2018). Deze zou in het voorjaar van 2019 ter (internet)consultatie voorgelegd worden, waarna aan de hand van de verzamelde input een definitief wetsvoorstel opgesteld zou worden en naar de Tweede Kamer gestuurd zou worden.

De consultatie is op 4 maart gestart en loopt tot 1 april 2019. De maatregel moet in werking treden per 1 januari 2022 en zal voor het eerst van toepassing zijn met betrekking tot op 31 december 2022 bestaande schulden bij de eigen vennootschap.

In deze nieuwsbrief gaan wij kort in op de ter consultatie neergelegde stukken en op enkele daarin reeds door ons geconstateerde onduidelijkheden en knelpunten. Wij houden u op de hoogte over het verdere verloop van de consultatie en de daaropvolgende parlementaire behandeling.

On 26 February 2019 the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) released its long awaited judgement with respect to the so-called ‘Danish beneficial ownership cases’. The Danish beneficial ownership cases concern six joint Danish cases. The judgements contain guidance on (i) the interpretation of the concept of beneficial ownership in the EU Interest and Royalty Directive and (ii) the existence of abuse in case of intermediary companies in the same directive, the EU Parent- Subsidiary Directive, in particular if the intermediary holding and financing companies are controlled by entities which themselves have no access to the directives. In addition, an important statement was given with regard to the application of European anti-avoidance concept. From the rulings it appears that the CJEU departs from the long existing and recently confirmed case law on ‘wholly artificial arrangement’.

As from 2020 employers can provide up to EUR 2,000 extra tax-free benefits towards their employees as a result of new legislation announced by the government last week. The so-called work-related costs scheme based on which employers may provide tax free benefits to their employees will be adjusted. The adjustment intends to provide for an additional benefit mainly to smaller employers and is part of an initiative to reduce the administrative burden for the Dutch small and medium sized enterprises (SME).

On 29 January 2019, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a Policy Note on its work to address the tax challenges of the digitalisation of the economy and to outline an agreed framework of future solutions. The Policy Note “Addressing the tax challenges of the digitalisation of the economy” includes two pillars which could form the basis for actions to be taken. A long term-solution is aimed for 2020.

We warmly welcome Boudewijn Niels among our partner team, taking effect on 1 January 2019. Boudewijn is specialized in tax aspects of private equity and M&A transactions. Additionally, he has broad experience in advising on the tax structuring of (cross-border)…

On 29 October 2018, the Dutch Government published a consultation document regarding the implementation of the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive measures (“ATAD 2”) as adopted by the EU in May 2017. The consultation document is open for consultation until 10 December 2018.

ATAD 2 should be implemented by the EU Member States on 31 December 2019. However, the rule targeting reverse hybrid mismatches need to be implemented on 31 December 2021. The implementation by the Netherlands of ATAD2 is in line with this timing.