EU Compliancy

Abstract

Several lawsuits have been filed against the Danish State over the last decade as a result of the design of the corporate tax law. The question is if the law’s design is compliant with the criteria of the free establishment from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). There are currently at least two lawsuits, pending at the CJUE regarding the corporate tax law, and the Danish State has lost a lawsuit, C48/13, Nordea. In this thesis, it is first examined weather the Corporate tax law’s section 31, subsection 2, 2. sentence, is in compliant with the free establishment granted by the EU Treaties, as there is an ongoing lawsuit, C-28/17, against Denmark for an alleged infringement. The thesis ends up with the legal conclusion that the Corporate tax law’s section 31, section 2, 2. sub-paragraph, is not likely to be compliant with the criteria from the CJEU. As lawsuits against the Danish Stat are expensive for the society as a whole, and as the Danish society therefore has an interest in reducing the losses. It is examined how several factors correlates and influences the society and the deadweight loss based on the design of the corporate tax laws. It is, in the economic part of the thesis, concluded that several factors, in the form of direct and indirect costs, are relevant to take into consideration to reduce the deadweight loss suffered by the Danish society as a whole. In the multidisciplinary analysis three different solutions to society’s problem regarding the possible noncompliant corporate tax rule is analyzed from both a legal and an economical perspective, and the most efficient solution is recommended to the Danish State as a solution which should be adopted, along with a recommendation to optimize the procedure of the legislation.