WRITTEN QUESTION E-3078/02 by Ulpu Iivari (PSE) to the Commission. Double taxation of orchestras.
Date: 2002-10-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Finland, Germany, artistic profession, cultural event, double taxation, tax law

9.10.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 242 E/39

(2003/C 242 E/040)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3078/02

by Ulpu Iivari (PSE) to the Commission

(28 October 2002)

Subject: Double taxation of orchestras

Under Community legislation and in particular Article 49 of the EC Treaty, Member States are forbidden to
restrict the freedom to provide services by means of double taxation. Avanti!, a Finnish chamber orchestra
financed mainly by public funds, was subjected to double taxation in Germany, in the Land of Schleswig-
Holstein, when it performed at the Schleswig-Holstein music festival in August 2001. It had to pay tax to
the Land on its appearance fees, even though,
in accordance with the taxation agreement between
Germany and Finland,
it produced evidence supplied by the Finnish authorities to the effect that its
activities were subsidised, the tour that it was making had been publicly funded, and it functioned as an
employer, in other words it paid the musicians’ wages, from which it deducted tax, and was responsible for
the employer’s contributions. The orchestra has already been in correspondence with the Land tax
authorities about the double taxation for nearly two years, and there is no end in sight.

Does the Commission consider that cases of this kind impede the operation of the internal market? What
will it do to improve its operation and specifically to tackle the problems linked to double taxation?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(9 December 2002)

The Commission is pleased to inform the Honourable Member that, according to information received
from the German tax authorities, the case of the Finnish orchestra Avanti! is being settled in favour of the
orchestra so that no German tax has to be paid.

The Commission is aware that there are specific tax issues related to cultural cross-border performances.
These have to do with the fact that under most double taxation treaties taxing rights are attributed to the
performance State;
insofar they follow Article 17 of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development Model Convention. This means in practice that a cross-border performing artist will normally
have to deal with more than one tax system.

Where the Commission believes that the national tax rules applied are discriminatory, it is ready to take
action under Article 226 of the EC Treaty. In this context it should also be mentioned that a case is
pending with the Court of Justice (case C-234/01 (cid:1) Gerritse (1)) concerning the German taxation of non-
resident artists. A judgement will probably be rendered in 2003.

(1) OJ C 245, 1.9.2001.

(2003/C 242 E/041)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3098/02

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(28 October 2002)

Subject: Representative for cooperation with Macau

In the Commission communication to the Council and Parliament of 12 November 1999 entitled ‘The
European Union and Macau: Beyond 2000’, it was stated that a cooperation officer would be designated,
and that this person would have the task of supporting the process of coordinating bilateral cooperation,
for a limited period of time.

Parliament gave its full support to this proposal, and, in paragraph 18 of its resolution of 15 February
2001 on that communication (1), called on the Commission ‘to appoint an EC-Macau cooperation officer to
Macau, as announced in its abovementioned communication, to contribute to the coordination of bilateral