‘The European Commission’s Infringement Cases about Spanish Exit Taxes Provisions for Individuals and Companies’

At the end of 2008, the European Commission reported to Spain that one of the rules of temporal attribution of incomes stated by its individuals’ income tax law could be qualified as a measure of exit taxation.

The Commission invited Spain to amend this provision. As the Spanish authorities did not comply with it, the Commission has decided to refer Spain to the ECJ over restrictive exit tax provisions for individuals.

At the same time, the Commission initiated the corresponding infringement proceedings against Sweden, Portugal, and Spain. In its opinion, certain provisions of their corporate income tax laws could be also considered as measures of exit taxation. In fact, the Commission has recently referred Spain to the ECJ for this provision.

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