CELEX: 51990PC0094
Language: en
Date: 1990-03-23
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE AMENDING DIRECTIVE 69/335/EEC CONCERNING INDIRECT TAXES ON THE RAISING OF CAPITAL

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                   C0M(90) 94  final
                                   Brussels, 23 March 1990
                        Proposal for a
                      COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
          amending Directive 69/335/EEC concerning
         indirect taxes on the raising of capital
                (presented by the Commission)
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1. Within the same Member State, collective investment undertakings may.
   depending on their legal form, be subject to two different sets of rules
   governing tax on the raising of capital.
   In the case of investment companies with variable or fixed capital, the
   rules laid down by Directive 69/S357EBC must necessarily be applied.
   Essentially these provide that Member States may either exempt all
   transactions from capital duty or make them subject to a uniform rate
   not exceeding 1%.
   Other companies, firms, associations or legal persons operating for
   profit, such as investment funds, are also covered in principle by the
   Directive, but the Member States are left free to exclude them and,
   consequently, not to apply the harmonized capital duty.
   The Commission takes the view that this differential treatment is
   unjustified and that Member States should be put in a position to avoid
   it. The attached proposal for a Directive therefore makes it possible
   for Member States to exempt from the general rules contributions of
   capital to collective investment undertakings established in the form of
   investment oompanies.
2. A second Justification for the proposal lies in the fact that tax rules
   which are more favourable to collective Investment oompanies are a
   logical response to the eoonomio and, above all, social function which
   they fulfil. This is because small savers too often find it difficult
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   to turn directly to the stock exchange, partly because they are
   unfamiliar with the mechanism and procedures, but also because of the
   small amounts which they are generally able to Invest and which rule out
   any adequate spreading of risks.
   Collective investment undertakings are therefore very useful
   intermediaries for this type of saver.
3. In defining collective Investment undertakings for the purposes of this
   proposal for a Directive, the definition of the WILTS (undertaking for
   collective Investment in transferable securities) contained in Directive
   85/611/EBC1 has been adhered to as closely as possible. However, the
   following departures have proved necessary:
   (a) the proposed definition oovers only collective investment
        undertakings constituted under statute, i.e. investment companies.
        This is because, as Indicated at point 1 above, other undertakings
        such as investment funds or unit trusts may already be excluded
        from the scope of capital duty.
   (b) there Is no requirement that collective investment companies invest
        solely in transferable securities, a restriction that has been
        deemed neither appropriate nor necessary.
1 OJ No L 375, 31.12.1965, p. 3.
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                               Proposal for a
                             Council Directive
amending Directive 69/335/EBC oonoerning Indirect taxes on the raising of
capital
THE UUUNULb OF THE B0R3PEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
and in particular Article 99 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,
Whereas Directive 69/335/EBC,1 as last amended by Directive 85/303/EEC,2
harmonized taxes on the raising of capital; whereas that Directive applies
to capital oampanles and to any other oompany, firm, association or legal
person operating for profit; whereas Member States may, however, refrain
from applying it to the second category of undertaking;
Whereas Member States may either exempt transactions falling within the
scope of the Directive, or make them subject to capital duty at a uniform
rate not exceeding 1%;
Whereas collective investment undertakings may or may not take the legal
form of a capital company; whereas they might consequently be governed
within the same Member State by two different sets of tax rules; whereas
that possibility should be eliminated;
1 GT Ho L 249, 3.10.1968, p. 25.
g OJ Ho L IBS, 15.6.1985, p. 23.
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Whereas it Is desirable, for both economic and social reasons, that access
to collective investment undertakings be facilitated;
Whereas these alms may be achieved by authorizing Member States to exempt
contributions of capital to collective Investment undertakings constituted
under statute as investment companies,
HAS ADOPTED TECS DIRECTIVE:
                                  Article 1
Article 7 of Directive 69/335/EBC is hereby amenderl as follows:
1. Paragraph 3 shall become paragraph 4.
2. The following paragraph 3 shall be inserted after paragraph 2:
N
  3. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, Member States may exempt
contributions of capital to collective Investment undertakings.
For the purposes of this Directive, collective investment undertakings
means undertakings constituted under statute (investment companies) which
have as their sole object the collective Investment of capital raised from
the public and which operate on the principle of risk-spreading. "
                                  Article 3
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels,
                                                  For the Council
                                                  The President
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                                 F I Œ E SME
              Competitiveness and employment 1
The proposal intends to amend the Directive 69/335/EEC in order to permit
Member States to exempt contributions of capita], to collective Investment
companies from indirect taxes on the raising of capital. It does not
involve new obligations for enterprises; on the contrary, this tax relief
should stimulate the development of collective investment companies
 ---pagebreak---                                                                    ISSN 0254-1475
                                                              COM(90) 94 final
                                                     DOCUMENTS
                                                                           10 09
EN
                                 Catalogue number : CB-CO-90-119-EN-C
                                                              ISBN 92-77-58540-4
 Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
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