Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1998:557
Date: 1998-11-19
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Anti-discrimination;Non-discrimination on grounds of nationality
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Greece

Summary of the J u d g m e n t 
Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom of establishment — Tax legislation — Tax on 
company profits — Company carrying on business in a Member State other than that in which it 
has its seat — Taxed at a higher rate than resident companies — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Arts 52 and 58) 
Articles 52 and 58 of the EC Treaty are to be 
interpreted as precluding tax legislation of a 
Member State which, in the case of compa­
nies having their seat in another Member 
State and carrying on business in the first 
Member State through a permanent establish­
ment situated there, excludes the possibility, 
accorded only to companies having their seat 
in the first Member State, of benefiting 
from a lower rate of tax on profits, when 
there is no objective difference in the situa­
tion between those two categories of compa­
nies which could justify such a difference in 
treatment. 
I - 2651