Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2001:315
Date: 2001-06-07
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Taxation;Indirect taxation
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Greece

Summary of the Judgment 
Tax provisions — Harmonisation of laws — Indirect taxes on the raising of capital — 
Special charges, in addition to capital duty imposed on the capital of companies on their 
formation, on the publication and alteration of their statutes and on the increase of their 
capital — Not permissible 
(Council Directive 69/335, Art. 10(c)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-426/98 
A Member State fails to fulfil its obligations 
under Articles 7 and 10 of Directive 69/335 
concerning indirect taxes on the raising of 
capital where it imposes, in addition to 
capital duty, other special charges on the 
capital of public and private limited liabil­
ity companies on their formation, on the 
publication and alteration of their statutes 
and on the increase in their capital. 
The charges imposed on those events fall 
under the prohibition in Article 10(c) of the 
directive to the extent that the act forming 
a public or private limited liability com­
pany must be drawn up in notarised form, 
since the authentication of that act by a 
notary constitutes a formality required 
before the commencement of business by 
the company within the meaning of 
Article 10(c) of the directive, where the 
publication of an increase of capital is 
mandatory, so that, although not formally 
amounting to a procedure required before 
such a company commences business, it is 
none the less necessary for the carrying on 
of that business, and where the publication 
of the original or amended statutes of a 
company also constitutes a statutory obli­
gation for those companies and must there­
fore be regarded as either a formality 
required before the commencement of 
those companies' business or a formality 
which is necessary for the carrying on of 
that business. 
(see paras 27-30, 44, operative part) 
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