The fundamental freedoms and the taxation of dividends received by non-resident investment funds

Abstract

This objective of this article is to discuss outbound cases involving investment funds focusing particularly on the issue of discrimination. The motivation to engage in this inquiry is two-fold. On the one hand, the fund taxation systems in Fidelity and Köln-Aktie Deka Funds include requirements not found in those fund taxation regimes subject to ECJ scrutiny long ago. It is of interest to analyse to what extent this can make a difference. Secondly, the opinions of AG Saugmandsgaard Øe in A SCPI and AG Kokott in Allianzgi merit a closer examination. In the case of the former, it is the AG’s unique approach to comparability that necessitates analysis. In the latter case, it is the variety of far-reaching questions raised by this complex case.