# C_2014409EN.01000201.xml

| 17.11.2014 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 409/2 |
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17.11.2014

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 409/2

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Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 11 September 2014 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Köln — Germany) — Kronos International Inc. v Finanzamt Leverkusen

(Case C-47/12) (1)

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((Reference for a preliminary ruling - Articles 49 TFEU and 54 TFEU - Freedom of establishment - Articles 63 TFEU and 65 TFEU - Free movement of capital - Tax legislation - Corporation tax - Legislation of a Member State designed to eliminate double taxation of distributed profits - Imputation method applied to dividends distributed by companies resident in the same Member State as the company receiving them - Exemption method applied to dividends distributed by companies resident in a different Member State from the company receiving them or in a third State - Difference in treatment of losses of the company receiving the dividends))

2014/C 409/02

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Referring court

Finanzgericht Köln

Parties to the main proceedings

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Kronos International Inc.

Applicant:

Defendant: Finanzamt Leverkusen

Defendant:

Operative part of the judgment

Operative part of the judgment

| 1. | The compatibility with EU law of national rules, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, under which a company resident in a Member State cannot set off corporation tax paid in another Member State or in a third State by capital companies distributing dividends, because of the exemption of those dividends from tax in the first Member State when they stem from shareholdings representing at least 10 % of the capital of the company making the distribution and, in the case in point, the actual shareholding of the capital company receiving the dividends exceeds 90 % and the recipient company has been incorporated in accordance with the law of a third State, must be assessed in the light of Articles 63 TFEU and 65 TFEU; |
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1.

The compatibility with EU law of national rules, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, under which a company resident in a Member State cannot set off corporation tax paid in another Member State or in a third State by capital companies distributing dividends, because of the exemption of those dividends from tax in the first Member State when they stem from shareholdings representing at least 10 % of the capital of the company making the distribution and, in the case in point, the actual shareholding of the capital company receiving the dividends exceeds 90 % and the recipient company has been incorporated in accordance with the law of a third State, must be assessed in the light of Articles 63 TFEU and 65 TFEU;

| 2. | Article 63 TFEU must be interpreted as not precluding application of the exemption method to dividends distributed by companies resident in other Member States and in third States, when the imputation method is applied to dividends distributed by companies resident in the same Member State as the company receiving them and, if the latter company records losses, the imputation method results in the tax paid by the resident company that made the distribution being fully or partially refunded. |
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2.

Article 63 TFEU must be interpreted as not precluding application of the exemption method to dividends distributed by companies resident in other Member States and in third States, when the imputation method is applied to dividends distributed by companies resident in the same Member State as the company receiving them and, if the latter company records losses, the imputation method results in the tax paid by the resident company that made the distribution being fully or partially refunded.

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(1)  OJ C 98, 31.3.2012.

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