Belgium wins tax-break court battle with EC
The European Commission has been defeated in its attempt to ban Belgium from offering tax break schemes to companies that the body saw as unfair subsidies.
Link: EC accounting systems panned
The decision was overruled by the European Court of Justice and means that some 36 companies involved in the dairy industry in Belgium, whose tax break schemes were due to expire this year and next, will now be allowed to continue until at least 2005 when a final decision has been made by the court.
The row had been complicated by Belgium’s introduction of a savings tax deal that had been based on the assurance from other member states that its tax break schemes would be able to continue temporarily. The country is now seeking guarantees that the commission will not be launching further legal attacks against its decision but has so far not received any response.