EU Court Adviser Upholds Hungary’s Telecoms Tax in Vodafone Case

An adviser to the European Union’s top court threw a damper on Vodafone’s lawsuit against the Hungarian tax administration, saying a special telecommunications tax imposed between 2010 and 2012 is valid and doesn’t violate EU law.

In a June 13 written legal opinion, Juliane Kokott, an advocate general of the European Court of Justice, said the tax didn’t discriminate against foreign-owned telecoms companies, nor did it amount to illegal state aid under EU rules.

The tax, which was set on a progressive scale based on companies’ net turnover, doesn’t meet all the criteria of a turnover tax, which ...