ECJ Adviser Backs Belgium in Dispute Over EU Tax Avoidance Rules

The European Court of Justice should dismiss a European Commission action against Belgium’s incomplete implementation of EU anti-tax avoidance rules, an adviser to the court wrote Thursday in a non-binding legal opinion.

The EU executive body took Belgium to court in 2023 to force implementation of the part of the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive that would allow a taxpayer to deduct from its tax liability the tax paid by a controlled foreign company abroad.

However, this requirement—known as Article 8(7)—goes beyond the Directive’s minimum common goal of protecting domestic corporate tax bases against tax avoidance and is, therefore, not ...