After the case was remanded by the Supreme Court in 2022, the Court of Appeal classified a Luxembourg company’s shareholder loan to “X Shareholder Loan B.V.” of €57,237,500 as an ‘imprudent loan’, with the result that the interest due on that loan was only tax deductible to a limited extent. The remaining interest was non-deductible because of fraus legis (evasion of the law). Allowing the interest due on the shareholder loan to be deductible would result in an evasion of tax, contrary to the purpose and purport of the 1969 Corporation Tax Act as a whole. The purpose and purport of this Act oppose the avoidance of the levying of corporate income tax, by bringing together, on the one hand, the profits of a company and, on the other hand, artificially created interest charges (profit drainage), in an arbitrary and continuous manner by employing – for the achievement of in itself considered business objectives – legal acts which are not ... Read more

In 2011 a Dutch group “Hunkemöller BV” acquired “Target BV” for EUR 135 million. The acquisition was financed by four French affiliates “FCPRs” in the Dutch Group – EUR 60,345,000 in the form of convertible instruments (intercompany debt) and the remainder in the form of equity. The convertible instruments carried an interest rates of 13 percent. The four French FCPRs were considered transparent for French tax purposes, but non-transparent for Dutch tax purposes. Hence the interest payments were deducted from the taxable income reported by the Group in the Netherlands, but the interest income was not taxed in France – the structure thus resulted in a tax mismatch. The Dutch tax authorities argued that the interest payments should not be deductible as the setup of the financing structure constituted abuse of law; the financing structure was set up in this particular manner to get around a Dutch anti-abuse rule which limits interest deduction on loans from affiliated entities in respect ... Read more

A Dutch company, Lender B.V., had acquired companies through a private equity structure. The Dutch company that had been set up for the purpose of the acquisition was financed by subordinated loans payable to related parties established on the island of Guernsey. In the tax return for the Dutch company interest in the amount of € 13,157,632 was deducted in the taxable income based on an interest rate of 11,5 – 14 percent. The tax authorities denied the deduction, as the financing arrangement was considered abusive. Decision of the Supreme Court The Court decided in favor of the tax authorities. The interest on the loans was determined to 2.5% (instead of the agreed 11.5 – 14%). This interest was not deductible, because granting of the loans was considered as abusive. Furthermore, an Arrangement Fee of € 8.4 mio. could not be charged at once, but had to be capitalised. Click here for English translation Click here for other translation ECLI_NL_GHAMS_2021_724 ... Read more