Important judgment on tax classification of financial instrument
On May 17, 2024 the Dutch Supreme Court rendered an important judgment on the tax qualification of a financial instrument that was issued by a company established in France in 2007. It concerned the ‘obligation remboursable en actions’ (hereinafter: ORA). The question was whether the instrument had to be regarded as equity (capital) or debt capital (loan) for the purposes of the Corporate Income Tax Act 1969. Although the dispute focused on the question whether the costs related to the issue of the instrument were allocable to a Dutch permanent establishment of the French company, the Supreme Court judgment potentially has a much broader scope.
Virtually all of the EU rules on this have become an integral part of the bill that was presented to the Lower House of Parliament on October 24, 2022.
The CJEU provided more guidance on the circumstances in which the human and technical resources of an independent legal entity could result in a separate fixed establishment.
