Press Release: Direct taxation: the Commission asks Belgium to amend its discriminatory legislation on accounts keepers/settlement institutions and investment funds

The European Commission formally requested Belgium to amend its tax legislation providing for more favourable taxation of bearer shares held at banks established in Belgium or dematerialised shares held in securities accounts in Belgium and of certain dividends distributed by Belgian investment companies compared with similar dividends distributed by investment companies established in other EEA countries. The Commission takes the view that these regulations are incompatible with the basic freedoms laid down in Articles 49 and 56 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (and in similar provisions of the Agreement on the European Economic Area). The Commission's request was in the form of a ‘reasoned opinion’, the second stage of the infringement procedure provided for in Article 226 of the EC Treaty. If Belgium does not reply satisfactorily to the reasoned opinion within two months, the Commission may refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.