Recent Case Law of the ECJ in Direct Taxation: Trends, Tensions, and Contradictions

Abstract: Recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law has caused a lot of uncertainty with regard to direct taxation. It seems that the ECJ has thrown up more questions than it gave answers. Therefore, the author tries to explain recent trends, tensions, and contradictions in direct taxation resulting from that case law. He focuses on the most recent cases, such as Belgium SPF Finance v. Truck Center SA (hereinafter ‘Truck Center’), Eckelkamp, Orange European Smallcap, and Krankenheim Ruhesitz am Wannsee-Seniorenheimstatt in order to analyze whether the concept of comparability has been developed further by the Court. Furthermore, the article tries to ascertain which and how many grounds of justifications need to be brought forward at the ECJ in order to successfully defend a tax measure. Finally, it takes a closer look at proportionality.