Netherlands
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Dutch political parties say “Roll Over Beethoven”
Blog post only If you follow a few people who are tax advisers on LinkedIn, you are probably familiar with their complaints about the deteriorating Dutch “investment climate”. The tax and regulatory regime keeps on getting less favourable for businesses. Unilever and Shell have already moved their headquarters out of the Netherlands. Boskalis is thinking… Continue reading
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Dutch case law clarifies Beneficial Owner (somewhat)
Originally published: January 2024 Last week, the Dutch Supreme Court (SC) ruled on the application of the Dutch dividend stripping specific anti abuse rules (SAAR) (https://lnkd.in/eUBtRxWG). The judgement clarifies the role of the SAAR, but it’s probably of wider interest when it touched on the meaning of ‘beneficial ownership’ (BO). To set the scene: the… Continue reading
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Spanish Supreme Court issues taxpayer-favorable decisions on domestic dividend withholding exemption with respect to EU holding structures
Originally published: September 2023 Put in simplified terms, the EU Parent Subsidiary Directive (PSD) requires EU countries to exempt dividends from tax, if paid to a parent company in another EU country. The PSD also requires to deny the exemption in cases of tax abuse. In separate but related ECJ case law, ECJ allowed denial… Continue reading
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The Court of Appeal of ‘s-Hertogenbosch gives a refreshment course on the determination of the place of residence of a company and the allocation of levying rights under a DTA
Originally published: August 2023 Double tax treaties (DTTs) usually give extensive taxing rights to the residence state. If a company is considered tax resident in more than one place, many DTTs use a ‘place of effective management’ (POEM) as tie breaker. A company has only one POEM, making it useful as a tie breaker. But… Continue reading
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Outkast’s synergies goodwill
Originally published: July 2023 In this recent Dutch court case (https://lnkd.in/ehgcrceB, English summary with commentary by Alain Thielemanshttps://lnkd.in/eigqfHkf), there was almost a billion of tax at stake in relation to goodwill amortization. And the Dutch High Court could have gone deep and philosophical on the meaning of goodwill. But they didn’t. The Dutch listed company holds… Continue reading
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Dutch tax ruling: parking spots are a PE
Originally published: March 2023 If I am a non-Dutch company renting out bicycles or escooters in a Dutch city through an app interface, do I pay any corporate tax in the Netherlands? Yes, say the Dutch tax authorities in this ‘knowledge groups’ opinion (https://lnkd.in/efraUg8n). In their view, the non-Dutch company has a fixed place of… Continue reading
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Dutch tax ruling: 3 employees working from home are not a PE
Originally published: February 2023 The Dutch tax authorities issued a ruling (https://lnkd.in/ezuRyJrV) that a foreign EU company did not have a Dutch permanent establishment (PE) for having three employees who worked fully remote from their home offices in the Netherlands, as the home offices are not ‘at the disposal’ of the employer. This is a… Continue reading
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Netherlands to tackle “remarkable” tax avoidance arrangements
Originally published: December 2022 The Netherlands has started a consultation where it asks respondents to share stories on ‘remarkable’ tax avoidance arrangements, hoping that it will bring in around €160m of additional annual revenue (presumably through closing loopholes). Early signs indicate that there’s a lot of people responding with lots of innocent structures (eg mortgage… Continue reading
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Dutch court case on anti abuse rules
Originally published: November 2022 Countries differ in their approach to anti abuse rules with Anglo Saxon countries typically requiring a specific anti abuse intention (eg BLM case https://lnkd.in/eeWxSEv6 https://lnkd.in/egPu7TSf or even more specific link required in the Euromoney case https://lnkd.in/e5aVptmc) whereas Southern European countries usually more willing to assume a non-specific abuse (eg this Spanish blog by Gloria Marín Benítez envying… Continue reading
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Could We Start Again, Please?
Originally published: November 2022 There’s a Dutch saying ‘trust comes on foot and leaves on horseback’. The Dutch tax system used to be attractive for establishing head quarters (HQs) and it used to be vigirously defended under the phrase ‘investment climate’ (vestigingsklimaat). For the past decade, the Netherlands has taken step after step to dismantle… Continue reading
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NL’s internet consultation on Pillar 2
Originally published: October 2022 The biggest takeaway from the Dutch consultation on OECD Pillar 2 (GloBE, global minimum tax): the rules contain UTPR and it’s scheduled to enter into force as of 1 January 2025. (The rules also contain IIR and QDMTT as per 1 January 2024, but that’s less of a surprise.) Whether the… Continue reading
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Voor oud-kampioen taksontwijking Nederland is zelfs het belastingveto niet meer Heilig
Originally published: October 2022 The Netherlands (https://lnkd.in/eR5M8jSj https://lnkd.in/eZ-S24nU) does not want to be a tax haven. I get that. Its international tax policy has long attracted mobile financial flows with a minor plus to the Dutch economy, but at the cost of reputational damage, talent drain into the financial services sector and possibly greater financial instability.… Continue reading
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Belastingen: makkelijker kunnen we het maar niet maken
Originally published: October 2022 Sensible tax policy questions are slowly entering the mainstream media even in the Netherlands. Among tax specialists, it is widely known that many special regimes serve no real purpose, but it is difficult to get rid of them. Other plans – like lower rates or exemption for fruits and vegetables or… Continue reading
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Eenduidige keuze onmisbaar voor verdeling van belastingen
Originally published: September 2022 Great perspective (in Dutch unfortunately) on OECD Pillar 1 and 2. In summary: current rules determine taxable profits through local rules coupled with transfer pricing. Pillar 1 and 2 determine taxable profits centrally and then allocate taxing rights to jurisdictions. This is like trying to play football (soccer) and rugby at… Continue reading
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Dutch Horizontal Monitoring news
Originally published: September 2022 Themes of roles and responsibilities between tax authorities, tax advisers and taxpayers came to forefront in miniature in the Netherlands this week. A lot of it is very Dutch specific and can only be discussed in simplified terms. In essence, the Dutch order of tax advisers (NOB) wanted to access to… Continue reading
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Dutch SC refers to the ECJ on anti abuse rules
Originally published: September 2022 On Friday, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that they will ask ECJ to clarify the scope of the EU justification ground for anti abuse rules (Dutch original:https://lnkd.in/gBKuNZp6, some English explanation here: https://lnkd.in/gcqHK8JN). In effect, they are putting ECJ on the spot with a case seemingly intended to show that the ECJ judgement… Continue reading
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Debrief on Dutch DTT negotiations with Russia
Originally published: September 2022 This Dutch article on Dutch attempts (2017-2021) to save its tax treaty (DTT) with Russia reveals 4 important things about DTTs. Although none of this is new, it may help public awareness. First of all, DTT negotiations aimed at closer economic integration no matter what. There’s no hint of discussion if… Continue reading
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Waarom onze vennootschapsbelasting op de schop moet
Originally published: August 2022 The debate on taxes in the Netherlands has so far not adapted very well to the Information Age. The Floris is a new initiative to try to lift the quality of the Dutch debate on taxes. I fully support that goal. For the occasion of the soft launch, I’ve penned a… Continue reading
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Dutch Supreme Court clarifies Section 10a CITA 1969 interest deduction limitation in acquisition structures
Originally published: July 2022 Last week, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled in two cases on interest deduction on shareholder loans (SHL) in private equity (PE) structures (https://lnkd.in/eX6SfNm2). Together with a case from exactly one year before, there’s now three cases with near identical facts. Dutch courts and legislator have struggled with SHL for over 30… Continue reading
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Inequality and redistribution in the Netherlands
Originally posted: April 2022 The last few months, the Netherlands has had a lively debate on the future of Dutch taxes. Unfortunately, it’s all in Dutch. This trigger was a December 2021 Supreme Court decision throwing out tax rules on saving income, but the debate has grown much wider than that. Historically, the Dutch tax… Continue reading
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What approach should authorities take on capital flight (with possible links to corruption and money laundering) from unfriendly states?
Originally posted: April 2022 Interesting long read (in Dutch unfortunately) about the mixed reactions from Dutch authorities on Russian oligarchs using Dutch SPVs:https://lnkd.in/enz3X3rP The article misses some clear delineation at points, which means the interesting policy questions (which I put in a poll here) are not coming out clearly. Broadly, it seems Dutch reaction to… Continue reading
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Russian oligarchs left alone in the Netherlands
Originally posted: April 2022 The Netherlands is still moving at snail’s pace against wealth held by Russian oligarchs, so it’s still fair to say that the Netherlands is ‘soft on Russia’. Dutch media have started to pick up on it and although the attention is still nowhere near the other two long running scandal sagas:… Continue reading
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Verbod op dienstverlening door trustkantoren gericht op Russische geldstromen
Originally posted: March 2022 Just in. The Dutch government is preparing emergency legislation under which trust offices are prohibited from assisting clients where the ultimate beneficial owner is a resident of Russia or Belarus. (Did they read my post from earlier this week, when I called the Dutch government ‘soft on Russia’?) This measure could… Continue reading
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Dutch freeze €392 million in Russian assets
Originally posted: March 2022 It is widely known that the Netherlands (together with Cyprus) was one of the holding locations of choice for Russian investors. However, initially, the Netherlands reported that only €6m of Russian assets were frozen. After a bit of public outcry, this number has now gone up, but even the €392m feels… Continue reading
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When I Was A Lad
Originally posted: February 2022 Last month, a new Dutch government was installed and for the first time in a long long time, there is a Dutch State Secretary of Finance (Marnix van Rij) who is trained in taxes. Not only that, he spent literally decades as a Big Four tax adviser. A lot of tax… Continue reading
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On safari in Wopke Hoekstra’s tropical paradise
Originally posted: February 2022 Uncomfortable truths for tax advisers in this small case study. The case is interesting in its own right, so non-Dutch people can ignore the comments about a Dutch politician being involved. In a nutshell: an East African safari holiday company structured it in such a way that local offices only receive… Continue reading
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Two years of discussing the rules of the Dutch public debate on tax
Originally posted: December 2021 Over the past two years, Dutch public debate on tax has been absorbed by the question what should be the rules of Dutch public debate on tax. This has grown to the point that a casual observer might think that it’s the most important story in tax right now (spoiler alert:… Continue reading
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Dutch Cabinet Has No Majority On Tax Move to Appease Shell
Originally posted: November 2021 The Dutch debate on dividend withholding tax rages on. The Dutch cabinet is trying to find parliamentary support for abolishing Dutch dividend withholding tax (DWHT) altogether as a last ditch attempt to prevent Shell from disbanding the Dutch part of its listed structure and becoming a UK listed company only. This… Continue reading
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Dutch Presented Tax Measures for 2022
Originally posted: September 2021 The Netherlands will join a growing group of countries that only allow carry forward losses to be offset against 50% of profits (for profits of more than €1m). Despite the widespread popularity of such rules (similar rules are already in effect in the UK, the US, France, Germany, Spain and Italy),… Continue reading
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Scandals tarnish Dutch reputation for clean government
Originally posted: July 2021 A good read on the key recent developments in the Netherlands. I especially like the term ‘cognitive dissonance’ to describe the Dutch reaction to the scandals. It means that the Dutch have such an ingrained self image that evidence to the contrary gets ignored / reinterpreted (for as long as it’s… Continue reading
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My experience of doing own PIT returns
Originally posted: July 2021 My experience of doing my own personal income tax (PIT) returns in the Netherlands and the UK taught me that the approaches are fundamentally different: – In the Netherlands, employers are expected to do a full PIT calculation for their employee and withhold tax on salary on the basis of that… Continue reading
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An important Dutch M&A tax case on interest deduction
Originally posted: July 2021 In an important Dutch M&A tax case, the Dutch Supreme Court denies interest deduction on certain shareholder loans (SHLs) used for a private equity (PE) acquisition based on general abuse of law principles (despite clearing the myriad of Dutch specific anti abuse rules), even on the portion used to refinance loans… Continue reading
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Consultation regarding changes to the entity qualification for Dutch tax purposes
Originally posted: March / April 2021 One of the basic design choices of any corporate tax system is determining which entities are subject to tax (non-transparent) and for which entities the results are allocated directly to the investors (transparent). Differences in tax systems create opportunities for taxpayers which have long proved difficult to shut down.… Continue reading
About Me
I am Leonard, an experienced M&A Tax and International Tax expert. I write about tax on LinkedIn and Twitter sometimes (but mostly LinkedIn). People liked the posts, but there were too many of them to keep track of. So, now they are on a blog for future reference.
Obvious disclaimers on all my posts: this is not advice. These views are my own and do not necessarily represent my employer.
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LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leendertwagenaar/