Keywords
Summary

Keywords

Freedom of movement for persons - Freedom of establishment - Tax legislation - Tax on company profits - Company carrying on business in a Member State other than that in which it has its seat - Taxed at a higher rate than resident companies - Not permissible

(EC Treaty, Arts 52 and 58)

Summary

$$Articles 52 and 58 of the EC Treaty are to be interpreted as precluding tax legislation of a Member State which, in the case of companies having their seat in another Member State and carrying on business in the first Member State through a permanent establishment situated there, excludes the possibility, accorded only to companies having their seat in the first Member State, of benefiting from a lower rate of tax on profits, when there is no objective difference in the situation between those two categories of companies which could justify such a difference in treatment.