The Lessons of Orange European Smallcap Fund

Abstract: In the Orange case, the European Court of Justice was asked to rule on the compatibility with the European Community law of a Dutch tax measure that aimed to make investment through a Dutch investment enterprise as attractive as direct investment, at least for Dutch tax residents. In this judgment, the Court clarified its position on cross–border dividend taxation as well as on other contested topics of the European Community tax law. This article examines the answers given by the Court and whether these should be seen as a departure from earlier case law, as well as the new questions to which Orange gives rise.