News

On 25 May 2018, the Council of the EU formally adopted the proposal to strengthen tax transparency of supposedly aggressive cross-border tax planning.

On May 3, 2018, the Advocate General (‘AG’) at the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) issued his Opinion in the Ryanair case. This case concerning broken-deal costs is relevant for Private Equity & M&A practice.

On May 11, the Dutch State Secretary of Finance published a new Dutch transfer pricing Decree that replaces the Decree from November 14, 2013. The new Decree aims to address the recent changes to the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines, which were adjusted as a result of the BEPS-project.

Op 3 mei jl. heeft A-G Kokott conclusie gewezen in de Ryanair-zaak. Dit is een voor private equity & M&A praktijk relevante zaak over broken-deal kosten.

Recently, the Court of Appeal Arnhem-Leeuwarden rendered its judgement in a case that  is very relevant for the private equity and M&A practice. Contrary to the decision of the lower court of February 2017, the Court of Appeal ruled that the acquisition of an equity stake with an ‘envy factor’[1] does represent a taxable wage component.[2]

Het gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden heeft onlangs een interessante uitspraak gedaan die relevant is voor de private equity- en M&A praktijk. In tegenstelling tot de uitspraak van rechtbank Gelderland in februari 2017 (zie hiervoor ons nieuwsbericht van 8 maart 2017), oordeelt het gerechtshof dat de verkrijging van een aandelenbelang met een ‘envy factor’[1] (deels) moet worden aangemerkt als belastbaar loon.[2]

On April 20, 2018 the Dutch State Secretary for Finance presented the government response to the evaluation of the 30% ruling to the House of Representatives.

On March 22, 2018, the OECD released the report ‘Additional Guidance on the Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments’. This report follows the final report on ‘Preventing the Artificial Avoidance of Permanent Establishments Status’, which was released earlier as part of action 7 of the BEPS project.

During a meeting of the ECOFIN in Brussels on 13 March 2018, a political agreement was reached on a proposal to strengthen tax transparency of supposedly aggressive cross-border tax planning by amending the Directive on Administrative Cooperation (“DAC”). 

On 23 February 2018, the Dutch State Secretary of Finance published a letter with his view on the policy towards the future of the Dutch tax landscape. He expressed his clear intention for the Netherlands to maintain its competitive investment climate, while on the other hand he wants to avoid that the attractive Dutch tax environment is used for abuse structures.

On 22 February 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued its judgement in the joined cases C‐398/16 and C‐399/16 X BV & X NV versus the Dutch State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance (Staatssecretaris van Financiën). These cases were referred to the CJEU in July 2016 and deal with the ‘per element’ approach, as established by the CJEU in C‐386/14 Groupe Steria, for the Dutch fiscal unity regime, in particular concerning interest deductibility and currency losses. In its judgement, the CJEU followed the conclusions of the Advocate General (AG) of 25 October 2017.

Zoals bekend is het nieuwe kabinet voornemens de Wet deregulering beoordeling arbeidsrelaties (Wet DBA) te vervangen. De Wet DBA was bedoeld om duidelijkheid te scheppen over de vraag wanneer een arbeidsverhouding een dienstbetrekking is. Echter, in plaats van duidelijkheid te scheppen leverde de wet veel verwarring en onrust op onder zelfstandigen en opdrachtgevers. Vanwege alle commotie rondom deze wet was de handhaving van de wet al eerder opgeschort tot 1 juli 2018.