Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2012:91
Date: 2012-02-16
Language of the case: French
Subject matter: Privileges and immunities
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

Summary of the Judgment 1. Privileges and immunities of the European Union – Officials and other staff of the Union – Exemption from national tax of income paid by the Union – Scope (Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Communities, Art. 13) 2. Privileges and immunities of the European Union – Officials and other staff of the Union – Exemption from national tax of income paid by the Union – National legislation taking account of income paid by the Union in calculating the cap for wealth tax – Not permissible (Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Communities, Art. 13, second para.) 1. See text of the decision. (see paras 21-24) 2. The second paragraph of Article 13 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities must be interpreted as precluding national legislation such as that at issue in the main proceedings which takes account of the income, including the pensions and allowances on termination of service, paid by the European Union to its officials and other staff, or to its former officials and former staff, in calculating the cap on a tax such as the wealth tax. The collection of a national tax, such as the wealth tax, including in the calculation of the final amount income paid by the Union which is exempt from national income tax is equivalent to the indirect taxation of such income, in breach of the second paragraph of Article 13 of the Protocol. Similarly, the fact that the wealth tax capping mechanism is intended to limit its confiscatory effect and reflect the real capacity to pay of the taxpayer is not such as to allow the indirect taxation, in breach of the second paragraph of Article 13 of the Protocol, of income paid by the Union to its officials or its other staff. In the interest of legal certainty, given that the income paid by the Union and subject to the Union’s own tax cannot be taxed either directly or indirectly by a Member State and given that it is withdrawn from the tax sovereignty of the Member States, a person in receipt of such income is also exempt from any obligation to declare the amount of such income to the authorities of a Member State. That said, it is legitimate for a Member State to make provision for a mechanism for capping a tax such as the wealth tax, always provided that such a mechanism respects the law of the Union and Article 13 of the Protocol in particular. (see paras 28-32, operative part)