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.
This Decree potentially provides a meaningful option to foreign entities that have not been able to otherwise obtain relief for Dutch dividend withholding tax through either a reduced treaty tax rate ...
There have been recent developments on the US sanctions against Cuba, Russia and Iran. In addition, various Arab nations recently imposed a boycott on Qatar. Please find set out below an update.