The Paris Administrative Court of Appeal has ruled that the inclusion of dividends in the CVAE tax base for credit institutions is contrary to EU law
A bank had filed a claim seeking a refund of the CVAE corresponding to the inclusion of dividends in the tax base, in accordance with accounting standards for credit institutions.
The company believed that this inclusion violated the Parent-Subsidiary Directive, which limits the taxation of dividends to 5%.
The Paris Administrative Court of Appeal then noted that, in accordance with the case law of the CJEU, the 5% threshold is not assessed solely on the basis of corporate income taxes.
It then notes that, for banking institutions, dividends are included in the tax base for:
corporate income tax
the social solidarity contribution
the CVAE
The Court notes that "the Minister does not contend that any exemption, waiver, or reduction of these original corporate solidarity contributions or corporate income tax was granted."
It therefore held that dividends falling within the scope of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive should, for the banking institution, be excluded from the CVAE tax base.
Nevertheless, it believes that there is no reason to extend this reasoning to French dividends and those from third countries.
Claims may therefore be filed by companies that follow the accounting standards for credit institutions. The deadlines for filing claims will depend on the companies’ circumstances.
There are questions that go beyond banking institutions; we are available to discuss them with you if needed: please contact us.