Press Release: State aid: Commission orders Spain to recover additional aid granted through tax benefits for acquisitions of indirect shareholdings in foreign companies

After an in-depth investigation, the European Commission concluded on the 15 October 2014 that a new interpretation of a Spanish tax scheme benefitting companies acquiring foreign shareholdings was incompatible with EU state aid rules. The scheme allowed companies to deduct the "financial goodwill" arising from the acquisition of indirect shareholdings in non-resident holding companies from their corporate tax base. The European Commission found that the measure provided the beneficiaries with a selective economic advantage which cannot be justified under EU state aid rules, and which they must now repay to the Spanish state.

• Primary Source

European Commission: RAPID: IP/07/1469: State aid: Commission opens formal investigation into Spain‘s tax scheme for the acquisition of shares in foreign companies http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-07-1469_en.htm

European Commission: RAPID: IP/09/1601: State aid: Commission requires Spain to abolish tax scheme favouring acquisitions of other European companies http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-09-1601_en.htm

European Commission: RAPID: IP/11/26: State aid: Commission requires Spain to abolish tax scheme favouring acquisitions in non EU countries http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-11-26_en.htm

---