Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesfinanzhof (Germany) lodged on 14 April 2022 — Finanzamt Hannover-Nord v H Lebensversicherung

(Case C-258/22)

(2022/C 284/18)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Bundesfinanzhof

Parties to the main proceedings

Defendant and appellant in the appeal on a point of law: Finanzamt Hannover-Nord

Applicant and respondent in the appeal on a point of law: H Lebensversicherung

Question referred

Is Article 56(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (now Article 63(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) to be interpreted as precluding a provision of a Member State under which, when determining the taxable amount for a corporation’s trade tax, dividends that derive from holdings in foreign companies of less than 10 % (free-float holdings) are to be added back to the taxable amount if and to the extent that those dividends have been deducted from the taxable amount in a previous step of the calculation, whereas, with regard to such dividends that derive from free-float holdings in companies with registered office in the Member State concerned, no deduction and, consequently, no add-back of the dividends is to take place in the calculation of the taxable amount for trade tax?