# C_2005155EN.01000403.xml

| 25.6.2005 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 155/4 |
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25.6.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 155/4

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Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d'Etat (France) by order of that court of 15 December 2004 in Societe Denkavit International BV and Denkavit France Sarl v Minister for Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry

(Case C-170/05)

(2005/C 155/09)

Language of the case: French

Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the European Communities by order of the Conseil d'Etat (France) of 15 December 2004, received at the Court Registry on 15 December 2004, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings between Societe Denkavit International BV and Denkavit France Sarl and Minister for Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry on the following questions:

| 1. | Is a system which imposes the burden of taxation on a parent company in receipt of dividends which is not domiciled in France, while relieving parent companies which are domiciled in France of a similar burden, open to challenge in the light of the principle of freedom of establishment? |
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1.

Is a system which imposes the burden of taxation on a parent company in receipt of dividends which is not domiciled in France, while relieving parent companies which are domiciled in France of a similar burden, open to challenge in the light of the principle of freedom of establishment?

| 2. | Is such a system of deduction at source itself open to challenge in the light of the principle of freedom of establishment, or, where a taxation agreement between France and another Member State authorising that deduction at source provides for the tax due in that other Member State to be set off against the tax charged in accordance with the disputed system, must that agreement be taken into account in assessing the compatibility of the system with the principle of freedom of establishment? |
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2.

Is such a system of deduction at source itself open to challenge in the light of the principle of freedom of establishment, or, where a taxation agreement between France and another Member State authorising that deduction at source provides for the tax due in that other Member State to be set off against the tax charged in accordance with the disputed system, must that agreement be taken into account in assessing the compatibility of the system with the principle of freedom of establishment?

| 3. | In the event that the second alternative set out at 2 above is held to apply, is the existence of the aforementioned agreement sufficient to ensure that the disputed system may be regarded merely as a means of apportioning the taxable item between the two States concerned without any effect on the undertakings, or must the fact that a parent company which is not domiciled in France may be unable to set off tax as provided for by the agreement mean that this system must be regarded as incompatible with the principle of freedom of establishment? |
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3.

In the event that the second alternative set out at 2 above is held to apply, is the existence of the aforementioned agreement sufficient to ensure that the disputed system may be regarded merely as a means of apportioning the taxable item between the two States concerned without any effect on the undertakings, or must the fact that a parent company which is not domiciled in France may be unable to set off tax as provided for by the agreement mean that this system must be regarded as incompatible with the principle of freedom of establishment?

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