02011L0096 — EN — 17.02.2015 — 003.001
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COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2011/96/EU of 30 November 2011 on the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different Member States (OJ L 345 29.12.2011, p. 8) |
Amended by:
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Official Journal |
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No |
page |
date |
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L 141 |
30 |
28.5.2013 |
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L 219 |
40 |
25.7.2014 |
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L 21 |
1 |
28.1.2015 |
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2011/96/EU
of 30 November 2011
on the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different Member States
(recast)
Article 1
Each Member State shall apply this Directive:
to distributions of profits received by companies of that Member State which come from their subsidiaries of other Member States;
to distributions of profits by companies of that Member State to companies of other Member States of which they are subsidiaries;
to distributions of profits received by permanent establishments situated in that Member State of companies of other Member States which come from their subsidiaries of a Member State other than that where the permanent establishment is situated;
to distributions of profits by companies of that Member State to permanent establishments situated in another Member State of companies of the same Member State of which they are subsidiaries.
An arrangement may comprise more than one step or part.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Directive the following definitions shall apply:
‘company of a Member State’ means any company which:
takes one of the forms listed in Annex I, Part A;
according to the tax laws of a Member State is considered to be resident in that Member State for tax purposes and, under the terms of a double taxation agreement concluded with a third State, is not considered to be resident for tax purposes outside the Union;
moreover, is subject to one of the taxes listed in Annex I, Part B, without the possibility of an option or of being exempt, or to any other tax which may be substituted for any of those taxes;
‘permanent establishment’ means a fixed place of business situated in a Member State through which the business of a company of another Member State is wholly or partly carried on in so far as the profits of that place of business are subject to tax in the Member State in which it is situated by virtue of the relevant bilateral tax treaty or, in the absence of such a treaty, by virtue of national law.
Article 3
For the purposes of applying this Directive:
the status of parent company shall be attributed:
at least to a company of a Member State which fulfils the conditions set out in Article 2 and has a minimum holding of 10 % in the capital of a company of another Member State fulfilling the same conditions;
under the same conditions, to a company of a Member State which has a minimum holding of 10 % in the capital of a company of the same Member State, held in whole or in part by a permanent establishment of the former company situated in another Member State;
‘subsidiary’ means that company the capital of which includes the holding referred to in point (a).
By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States shall have the option of:
replacing, by means of bilateral agreement, the criterion of a holding in the capital by that of a holding of voting rights;
not applying this Directive to companies of that Member State, which do not maintain for an uninterrupted period of at least 2 years holdings qualifying them as parent companies, or to those of their companies in which a company of another Member State does not maintain such a holding for an uninterrupted period of at least 2 years.
Article 4
Where a parent company or its permanent establishment, by virtue of the association of the parent company with its subsidiary, receives distributed profits, the Member State of the parent company and the Member State of its permanent establishment shall, except when the subsidiary is liquidated, either:
refrain from taxing such profits to the extent that such profits are not deductible by the subsidiary, and tax such profits to the extent that such profits are deductible by the subsidiary; or
tax such profits while authorising the parent company and the permanent establishment to deduct from the amount of tax due that fraction of the corporation tax related to those profits and paid by the subsidiary and any lower-tier subsidiary, subject to the condition that at each tier a company and its lower-tier subsidiary fall within the definitions laid down in Article 2 and meet the requirements provided for in Article 3, up to the limit of the amount of the corresponding tax due.
When assessing the parent company’s share of the profits of its subsidiary as they arise the Member State of the parent company shall either exempt those profits or authorise the parent company to deduct from the amount of tax due that fraction of the corporation tax related to the parent company’s share of profits and paid by its subsidiary and any lower-tier subsidiary, subject to the condition that at each tier a company and its lower-tier subsidiary fall within the definitions laid down in Article 2 and meet the requirements provided for in Article 3, up to the limit of the amount of the corresponding tax due.
Where the management costs relating to the holding in such a case are fixed as a flat rate, the fixed amount may not exceed 5 % of the profits distributed by the subsidiary.
Article 5
Profits which a subsidiary distributes to its parent company shall be exempt from withholding tax.
Article 6
The Member State of a parent company may not charge withholding tax on the profits which such a company receives from a subsidiary.
Article 7
Article 8
When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.
Article 9
Directive 90/435/EEC, as amended by the acts listed in Annex II, Part A, is repealed, without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time limits for transposition into national law of the Directives set out in Annex II, Part B.
References to the repealed Directive shall be construed as references to this Directive and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex III.
Article 10
This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Article 11
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
ANNEX I
PART A
List of companies referred to in Article 2(a)(i)
companies incorporated under Council Regulation (EC) No 2157/2001 of 8 October 2001 on the Statute for a European company (SE) ( 6 ) and Council Directive 2001/86/EC of 8 October 2001 supplementing the Statute for a European company with regard to the involvement of employees ( 7 ) and cooperative societies incorporated under Council Regulation (EC) No 1435/2003 of 22 July 2003 on the Statute for a European Cooperative Society (SCE) ( 8 ) and Council Directive 2003/72/EC of 22 July 2003 supplementing the Statute for a European Cooperative Society with regard to the involvement of employees ( 9 );
companies under Belgian law known as ‘société anonyme’/‘naamloze vennootschap’, ‘société en commandite par actions’/‘commanditaire vennootschap op aandelen’, ‘société privée à responsabilité limitée’/‘besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid’, ‘société coopérative à responsabilité limitée’/‘coöperatieve vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid’, ‘société coopérative à responsabilité illimitée’/‘coöperatieve vennootschap met onbeperkte aansprakelijkheid’, ‘société en nom collectif’/‘vennootschap onder firma’, ‘société en commandite simple’/‘gewone commanditaire vennootschap’, public undertakings which have adopted one of the abovementioned legal forms, and other companies constituted under Belgian law subject to Belgian corporate tax;
companies under Bulgarian law known as: ‘събирателно дружество’, ‘командитно дружество’, ‘дружество с ограничена отговорност’, ‘акционерно дружество’, ‘командитно дружество с акции’, ‘неперсонифицирано дружество’, ‘кооперации’, ‘кооперативни съюзи’, ‘държавни предприятия’ constituted under Bulgarian law and carrying on commercial activities;
companies under Czech law known as: ‘akciová společnost’, ‘společnost s ručením omezeným’;
companies under Danish law known as ‘aktieselskab’ and ‘anpartsselskab’. Other companies subject to tax under the Corporation Tax Act, in so far as their taxable income is calculated and taxed in accordance with the general tax legislation rules applicable to ‘aktieselskaber’;
companies under German law known as ‘Aktiengesellschaft’, ‘Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien’, ‘Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung’, ‘Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit’, ‘Erwerbs- und Wirtschaftsgenossenschaft’, ‘Betriebe gewerblicher Art von juristischen Personen des öffentlichen Rechts’, and other companies constituted under German law subject to German corporate tax;
companies under Estonian law known as: ‘täisühing’, ‘usaldusühing’, ‘osaühing’, ‘aktsiaselts’, ‘tulundusühistu’;
companies incorporated or existing under Irish law, bodies registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, building societies incorporated under the Building Societies Acts and trustee savings banks within the meaning of the Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1989;
companies under Greek law known as ‘ανώνυμη εταιρεία’,·‘εταιρεία περιορισμένης ευθύνης (Ε.Π.Ε.)’·and other companies constituted under Greek law subject to Greek corporate tax;
companies under Spanish law known as: ‘sociedad anónima’, ‘sociedad comanditaria por acciones’, ‘sociedad de responsabilidad limitada’, public law bodies which operate under private law. Other entities constituted under Spanish law subject to Spanish corporate tax (‘Impuesto sobre Sociedades’);
companies under French law known as ‘société anonyme’, ‘société en commandite par actions’, ‘société à responsabilité limitée’, ‘sociétés par actions simplifiées’, ‘sociétés d’assurances mutuelles’, ‘caisses d’épargne et de prévoyance’, ‘sociétés civiles’ which are automatically subject to corporation tax, ‘coopératives’, ‘unions de coopératives’, industrial and commercial public establishments and undertakings, and other companies constituted under French law subject to French corporate tax;
companies under Italian law known as ‘società per azioni’, ‘società in accomandita per azioni’, ‘società a responsabilità limitata’, ‘società cooperative’, ‘società di mutua assicurazione’, and private and public entities whose activity is wholly or principally commercial;
under Cypriot law: ‘εταιρείες’ as defined in the Income Tax laws;
companies under Latvian law known as: ‘akciju sabiedrība’, ‘sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību’;
companies incorporated under the law of Lithuania;
companies under Luxembourgish law known as ‘société anonyme’, ‘société en commandite par actions’, ‘société à responsabilité limitée’, ‘société coopérative’, ‘société coopérative organisée comme une société anonyme’, ‘association d’assurances mutuelles’, ‘association d’épargne-pension’, ‘entreprise de nature commerciale, industrielle ou minière de l’Etat, des communes, des syndicats de communes, des établissements publics et des autres personnes morales de droit public’, and other companies constituted under Luxembourg law subject to Luxembourg corporate tax;
companies under Hungarian law known as: ‘közkereseti társaság’, ‘betéti társaság’, ‘közös vállalat’, ‘korlátolt felelősségű társaság’, ‘részvénytársaság’, ‘egyesülés’, ‘szövetkezet’;
companies under Maltese law known as: ‘Kumpaniji ta’ Responsabilita’ Limitata’, ‘Soċjetajiet en commandite li l-kapital tagħhom maqsum f’azzjonijiet’;
companies under Dutch law known as ‘naamloze vennootschap’, ‘besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid’, ‘open commanditaire vennootschap’, ‘coöperatie’, ‘onderlinge waarborgmaatschappij’, ‘fonds voor gemene rekening’, ‘vereniging op coöperatieve grondslag’, ‘vereniging welke op onderlinge grondslag als verzekeraar of kredietinstelling optreedt’, and other companies constituted under Dutch law subject to Dutch corporate tax;
companies under Austrian law known as ‘Aktiengesellschaft’, ‘Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung’, ‘Versicherungsvereine auf Gegenseitigkeit’, ‘Erwerbs- und Wirtschaftsgenossenschaften’, ‘Betriebe gewerblicher Art von Körperschaften des öffentlichen Rechts’, ‘Sparkassen’, and other companies constituted under Austrian law subject to Austrian corporate tax;
companies under Polish law known as: ‘spółka akcyjna’, ‘spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością’, spółka komandytowo-akcyjna;
commercial companies or civil law companies having a commercial form and cooperatives and public undertakings incorporated in accordance with Portuguese law;
companies under Romanian law known as: ‘societăți pe acțiuni’, ‘societăți în comandită pe acțiuni’, ‘societăți cu răspundere limitată’, ‘societăți în nume colectiv’, ‘societăți în comandită simplă’;
companies under Slovenian law known as: ‘delniška družba’, ‘komanditna družba’, ‘družba z omejeno odgovornostjo’;
companies under Slovak law known as: ‘akciová spoločnosť’, ‘spoločnosť s ručením obmedzeným’, ‘komanditná spoločnosť’;
companies under Finnish law known as ‘osakeyhtiö’/‘aktiebolag’, ‘osuuskunta’/‘andelslag’, ‘säästöpankki’/‘sparbank’ and ‘vakuutusyhtiö’/‘försäkringsbolag’;
companies under Swedish law known as ‘aktiebolag’, ‘försäkringsaktiebolag’, ‘ekonomiska föreningar’, ‘sparbanker’, ‘ömsesidiga försäkringsbolag’, ‘försäkringsföreningar’;
companies incorporated under the law of the United Kingdom;
companies under Croatian law known as: ‘dioničko društvo’, ‘društvo s ograničenom odgovornošću’, and other companies constituted under Croatian law subject to Croatian profit tax.
PART B
List of taxes referred to in Article 2(a)(iii)
ANNEX II
PART A
Repealed Directive with list of its successive amendments
(referred to in Article 9)
Council Directive 90/435/EEC (OJ L 225, 20.8.1990, p. 6). |
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Point XI.B.I.3 of Annex I to the 1994 Act of Accession (OJ C 241, 29.8.1994, p. 196). |
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Council Directive 2003/123/EC (OJ L 7, 13.1.2004, p. 41). |
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Point 9.8 of Annex II to the 2003 Act of Accession (OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 555). |
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Council Directive 2006/98/EC (OJ L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 129). |
Annex, point 7 only |
PART B
List of time limits for transposition into national law
(referred to in Article 9)
Directive |
Time limit for transposition |
90/435/EEC |
31 December 1991 |
2003/123/EC |
1 January 2005 |
2006/98/EC |
1 January 2007 |
ANNEX III
Correlation Table
Directive 90/435/EEC |
This Directive |
Article 1(1) first to fourth indents |
Article 1(1)(a) to (d) |
Article 1(2) |
Article 1(2) |
Article 2(1) first part of the introductory phrase |
Article 2 introductory phrase |
Article 2(1) second part of the introductory phrase |
Article 2(a), introductory phrase |
Article 2(1)(a) |
Article 2(a)(i) |
Article 2(1)(b) |
Article 2(a)(ii) |
Article 2(1)(c) introductory phrase of the first subparagraph and second subparagraph |
Article 2(a)(iii) |
Article 2(1)(c), first subparagraph, first to twenty-seventh indents |
Annex I, Part B, first to twenty-seventh indents |
Article 2(2) |
Article 2(b) |
Article 3(1) introductory phrase |
Article 3(1), introductory phrase |
Article 3(1)(a) first subparagraph, initial words |
Article 3(1)(a), introductory phrase |
Article 3(1)(a) first subparagraph, final words |
Article 3(1)(a)(i) |
Article 3(1)(a) second subparagraph |
Article 3(1)(a)(ii) |
Article 3(1)(a) third subparagraph |
— |
Article 3(1)(a) fourth subparagraph |
— |
Article 3(1)(b) |
Article 3(1)(b) |
Article 3(2) first and second indents |
Article 3(2)(a) and (b) |
Article 4(1) first and second indents |
Article 4(1)(a) and (b) |
Article 4(1a) |
Article 4(2) |
Article 4(2) first sentence |
Article 4(3) first subparagraph |
Article 4(2) second sentence |
Article 4(3) second subparagraph |
Article 4(3) first subparagraph |
Article 4(4) |
Article 4(3) second subparagraph |
Article 4(5) |
Articles 5, 6 and 7 |
Articles 5, 6 and 7 |
Article 8(1) |
— |
Article 8(2) |
Article 8 |
— |
Article 9 |
— |
Article 10 |
Article 9 |
Article 11 |
Annex |
Annex I, Part A |
— |
Annex II |
— |
Annex III |
( 1 ) Opinion delivered on 4 May 2011 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
( 2 ) OJ C 107, 6.4.2011, p. 73.
( 3 ) OJ L 225, 20.8.1990, p. 6.
( 4 ) See Annex II, Part A.
( 5 ) [2008] ECR I-03189.
( 6 ) OJ L 294, 10.11.2001, p. 1.
( 7 ) OJ L 294, 10.11.2001, p. 22.
( 8 ) OJ L 207, 18.8.2003, p. 1.
( 9 ) OJ L 207, 18.8.2003, p. 25.