EC State aid rules applied to taxes

Det är bland skattejurister ett välkänt faktum att statens rätt att beskatta i viss utsträckning kan begränsas på grund av olika EG-rättsliga regler. I den här boken analyseras en grupp EG-rättsliga regler av mindre känt slag – nämligen EG:s statsstödsregler, i syfte att utröna deras påverkan på medlemsstaternas rätt att beskatta. Fokus i boken är tolkningen av ett av de kriterier (selektivitetskriteriet) som måste vara uppfyllda för att en viss åtgärd skall anses utgöra statligt stöd. It is common knowledge among EC tax lawyers that various rules in the EC Treaty prohibiting discrimination limit the tax sovereignty retained by the Member States. It is less known, however, that the EC State aid rules also limit the ability of Member States to engage in tax manoeuvring. It has been common knowledge among State aid lawyers since the early 1960s that State aid rules also apply to taxes. Within this group of lawyers, the struggle has been to interpret the application of the EC State aid rules to taxes – an application encompassing its own particular problems. This book addresses the current interpretation of a) the effect of EC State aid rules on the right of Member States to apply taxes and b) the application of EC State aid rules (in particular the selectivity criterion) to taxes. Moreover, the author questions the logic of the current interpretation of elements essential in the application of the EC State aid rules to taxes. One result of the author’s alternative interpretation is that, at least in theory, some of the tax sovereignty of the Member States is recaptured.