Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 28 October 2010 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Cour de cassation — France) — Établissements Rimbaud SA v Directeur général des impôts, Directeur des services fiscaux d’Aix-en-Provence

(Case C-72/09) (1)

(Direct taxation - Free movement of capital - Legal persons established in a non-member State belonging to the European Economic Area - Ownership of immovable property located in a Member State - Tax on the market value of that property - Refusal of exemption - Combating tax evasion - Assessment in the light of the EEA Agreement)

2010/C 346/18

Language of the case: French

Referring court

Cour de cassation

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Établissements Rimbaud SA

Defendants: Directeur général des impôts, Directeur des services fiscaux d’Aix-en-Provence

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Cour de cassation (Court of Cassation) (France) — Interpretation of Article 40 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (OJ 1994 L 1, p. 3) of 2 May 1992 — Tax on the commercial value of immoveable property situated in France — Exemption for legal persons established in France or in a State within the European Economic Area conditional on France having concluded with that State a convention on administrative assistance for the purposes of combating tax evasion and avoidance or on the fact that, under a treaty containing a clause prohibiting discrimination, those legal persons are not to be taxed more heavily than companies established in France — Refusal of tax exemption to a company established in Liechtenstein

Operative part of the judgment

Article 40 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area of 2 May 1992 does not preclude national legislation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which exempts from the tax on the market value of immovable property located in a Member State of the European Union companies which have their seat in that Member State and which, in respect of a company which has its seat in a country belonging to the European Economic Area which is not a Member State of the European Union, makes that exemption conditional either on the existence of a convention on administrative assistance between the Member State and the non-member State for the purposes of combating tax evasion and avoidance or on the fact that, pursuant to a treaty containing a clause prohibiting discrimination on grounds of nationality, those legal persons must not be taxed more heavily than companies established in that Member State.

(1)  OJ C 102, 1.5.2009, p. 12.