CELEX: C2006/326/11
Language: en
Date: 2006-12-30 00:00:00
Title: Case C-433/04: Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 9 November 2006 — Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Belgium (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Articles 49 EC and 50 EC — Freedom to provide services — Activities in the construction sector — Prevention of tax fraud in the construction sector — National legislation requiring the withholding of 15 % on payments to contracting partners not registered in Belgium — National legislation imposing joint and several liability for the tax debts of contracting partners not registered in Belgium)

30.12.2006   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 326/5
            
         Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 9 November 2006 — Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Belgium
   (Case C-433/04) (1)
   
   (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Articles 49 EC and 50 EC - Freedom to provide services - Activities in the construction sector - Prevention of tax fraud in the construction sector - National legislation requiring the withholding of 15 % on payments to contracting partners not registered in Belgium - National legislation imposing joint and several liability for the tax debts of contracting partners not registered in Belgium)
   (2006/C 326/11)
   Language of the case: French
   Parties
   
      Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (represented by: D. Triantafyllou, Agent)
   
      Defendant: Kingdom of Belgium (represented by: E. Dominkovits, Agent, and by B. van de Walle de Ghelcke, avocat,)
   Re:
   Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Breach of Articles 49 EC and 50 EC — National legislation requiring principals and contractors, on pain of a fine, to withhold 15 % of the amount billed by contracting partners not registered in Belgium and to pay the sum withheld to the Belgian authorities, in order to ensure that the tax debts of those contracting partners are paid — Joint and several liability of principals and contractors for the tax debts of their contracting partners who are not registered
   Operative part of the judgment
   The Court:
   
               1.
            
            
               Declares that, by obliging principals and contractors who have recourse to foreign contracting partners not registered in Belgium to withhold 15 % of the sum payable for work carried out and by imposing on those principals and contractors joint and several liability for the tax debts of such contracting partners, the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 49 EC and 50 EC;
            
         
               2.
            
            
               Orders the Kingdom of Belgium to pay the costs.
            
         
      (1)  OJ C 300, 04.12.2004.