France Administrative Supreme Court Issues Decision Clarifying Withholding Tax on Royalties Under DTA With Netherlands

The French Administrative Supreme Court Sept. 30 issued Decision No. 490793, clarifying withholding tax on royalties under the 1973 DTA with the Netherlands. The taxpayer, a former press agency, paid royalties to a Dutch company for photo reproduction rights and was assessed withholding tax by the French authorities. The Paris Administrative Court of Appeal upheld the tax, determining that the taxpayer couldn’t rely on the DTA on grounds it failed to prove from a Dutch certificate of residency that the Dutch company was actually subject to corporate tax in the Netherlands. On appeal, the Administrative Supreme Court found that: 1) ...