On the 12 June 2014, the European Court of Justice ruled that the Dutch fiscal unity regime (treating multiple group companies as one single taxpayer), contravenes to the EU principle of Freedom of Establishment. In essence the infringement was caused as the Dutch fiscal unity regime does not allow:

– A fiscal unity between Dutch sister companies, while being held (in)directly by a EU resident parent company;
– A fiscal unity between a Dutch parent company and a Dutch second-tier subsidiary, while the second-tier subsidiary is held through a EU resident (first-tier) subsidiary.

The European Court of Justice reached this decision while answering prejudicial questions raised by the Amsterdam High Court in three separate cases.