Post-Brexit surge of EU tax cases expected

ADVISERS anticipate a surge in the number of new tax cases sent to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) following the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

According to law firm Pinsent Masons, the prospect of withdrawing from the EU means that more claimants may want to commence their proceedings while it is clear that EU law still applies in the UK.

Andrew Scott, director at Pinsent Masons, said: “Brexit means that the power of the CJEU over UK law will end but at an unknown time in the future

“UK claimants might be concerned that, once it is out of the EU, the UK government will attempt without notice- as they have in the past- to remove the ability to bring a claim based on EU grounds even where EU law applied at the relevant time.”

The claim comes the law firm revealed that the average number of new tax cases sent to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has risen by a fifth since the financial crisis,

Between 2005 and 2010, there were 50 new tax cases per year on average brought to the ECJ. Between 2011 and 2015, this rose to 61 per year, an increase of 22%.

“The reach of EU law has widened considerably and continues to do so, with the result that an increasing amount of UK tax law is affected. More businesses and other taxpayers have therefore managed to find grounds for challenging UK tax law,” Scott said.