CELEX: 62010CA0039
Language: en
Date: 2012-05-10 00:00:00
Title: Case C-39/10: Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 10 May 2012 — European Commission v Republic of Estonia (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Freedom of movement for workers — Income tax — Allowance — Retirement pensions — Effect on small pensions — Discrimination between resident and non-resident taxpayers)

30.6.2012   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 194/2
            
         Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 10 May 2012 — European Commission v Republic of Estonia
   (Case C-39/10) (1)
   
   (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Freedom of movement for workers - Income tax - Allowance - Retirement pensions - Effect on small pensions - Discrimination between resident and non-resident taxpayers)
   2012/C 194/02
   Language of the case: Estonian
   
      Parties
   
   
      Applicant: European Commission (represented by: W. Mölls, K. Saaremäel-Stoilov and R. Lyal, acting as Agents)
   
      Defendant: Republic of Estonia (represented by: M. Linntam, acting as Agent)
   
      Interveners in support of the defendant: Kingdom of Spain (represented by M. Muñoz Pérez and A. Rubio Gonzáles, acting as Agents), Portuguese Republic (represented by L. Inez Fernandes, acting as Agent), Kingdom of Sweden (represented by A. Falk, acting as Agent), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (represented by S. Ossowski, acting as Agent), Federal Republic of Germany (represented by J. Möller, C. Blaschke and B. Klein, acting as Agents)
   
      Re:
   
   Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Infringement of Article 45 TFEU and Article 28 of the EEA Agreement — Income tax on retirement pensions — National legislation not providing for the granting of exemption from income tax to non-residents whose total income is so small that they would be exempted from income tax if they were resident taxpayers
   
      Operative part of the judgment:
   
   
      The Court:
   
   
               1.
            
            
               Declares that, by excluding non-resident pensioners from benefiting from the allowances laid down by the Law on income tax (Tulumaksuseadus) of 15 December 1999, as amended by the Law of 26 November 2009, where, because of the modest amount of their pensions, they are not taxable in the Member State of residence under the tax legislation of that State, the Republic of Estonia has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 45 TFEU and Article 28 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area of 2 May 1992;
            
         
               2.
            
            
               Orders the Republic of Estonia to pay the costs;
            
         
               3.
            
            
               Orders the Kingdom of Spain, the Portuguese Republic, the Kingdom of Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Federal Republic of Germany to bear their own costs.
            
         
      (1)  OJ C 63, 13.3.2010.