n judgment C-525\/24 of 27 November 2025, the Court of Justice of the EU clarified issues concerning non-resident pension funds and corporate income tax on dividends.<\/p>\n
The Court held that EU law prevents a Member State from requiring a non-resident pension fund to prove compliance with the substantive conditions for obtaining a refund of withholding tax on dividends solely by producing a declaration confirmed and certified by the supervisory authority of the fund\u2019s Member State of residence.<\/p>\n
In the case at hand, a Spanish fund without a permanent establishment in Portugal had received dividends from Portuguese companies in 2020\u20132021, subject to a 25% withholding tax. It first requested application of the treaty rate (15%) and later full cancellation and refund of the withholding tax, arguing that it met the substantive conditions of Portuguese law. That law requires, for immediate exemption, a declaration certified by the supervisory authority of the residence state and\u2014if withholding has occurred\u2014a refund request within two years.<\/p>\n
The referring court asked whether these evidentiary requirements for non-resident funds are compatible with Article 63 TFEU (free movement of capital) and whether, in case of difficulties for the taxpayer in obtaining proof, Portuguese authorities must use EU administrative-cooperation mechanisms.<\/p>\n
The Court reaffirmed that evidentiary requirements may constitute restrictions if they deter cross-border investment. Imposing on non-resident funds alone the obligation to submit a certified declaration introduces administrative burdens not imposed on resident funds and therefore constitutes a prohibited restriction, unless justified under Article 65 TFEU. In this case, resident and non-resident funds are comparable as regards substantive conditions; the difference concerns only the method of proof.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
n judgment C-525\/24 of 27 November 2025, the Court of Justice of the EU clarified issues concerning non-resident pension funds and corporate income tax on dividends. The Court held that EU law prevents a Member State from requiring a non-resident pension fund to prove compliance with the substantive conditions for obtaining a refund of withholding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unkategorisiert"],"yoast_head":"\n