Case C-553/16: Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 25 July 2018 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Varhoven administrativen sad — Bulgaria) — ‘TTL’ EOOD v Direktor na Direktsia ‘Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika’ — Sofia (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Freedom to provide services — Corporate taxation — Payments made by a company resident in a Member State to non-resident companies for the leasing of rail tankers — Obligation to charge withholding tax on income from a domestic source paid to a non-resident company — Non-compliance — Double taxation conventions — Charging the resident company default interest for non-payment of the withholding tax — Interest payable from the expiry of the statutory time limit for payment until the date on which evidence that the double taxation convention is applicable is furnished — Irrecoverable interest)
Date: 2018-07-25
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: double taxation, establishment, freedom to provide services, interest, payment, rental business, tax convention, tax on income, vehicle on rails








C_2018328EN.01000501.xml










17.9.2018   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 328/5






Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 25 July 2018 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Varhoven administrativen sad — Bulgaria) — ‘TTL’ EOOD v Direktor na Direktsia ‘Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika’ — Sofia
(Case C-553/16) (1)

((Reference for a preliminary ruling - Freedom to provide services - Corporate taxation - Payments made by a company resident in a Member State to non-resident companies for the leasing of rail tankers - Obligation to charge withholding tax on income from a domestic source paid to a non-resident company - Non-compliance - Double taxation conventions - Charging the resident company default interest for non-payment of the withholding tax - Interest payable from the expiry of the statutory time limit for payment until the date on which evidence that the double taxation convention is applicable is furnished - Irrecoverable interest))
(2018/C 328/06)
Language of the case: Bulgarian

Referring court

Varhoven administrativen sad

Parties to the main proceedings


Appellant:‘TTL’ EOOD

Respondent: Direktor na Direktsia ‘Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika’ — Sofia

Intervener: Varhovna administrativna prokuratura

Operative part of the judgment

Article 56 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, whereby the payment of income by a resident company to a company established in another Member State is, in principle, subject to withholding tax, except where otherwise provided in the double taxation convention entered into between those two Member States, if that legislation requires the resident company, which neither deducts nor pays that sum to the tax authorities of the first Member State, to pay irrecoverable default interest for the period from the expiry of the time limit for payment of the income tax up to the date on which the non-resident company proves that the requirements for the application of the double taxation convention have been fulfilled, even though, in accordance with that convention, the non-resident company is not liable to pay any tax in the first Member State or the amount thereof is lower than that normally payable under the tax law of that Member State.


(1)  OJ C 22, 23.1.2017.