Brussels, 21/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - As part of its monthly package of infringements, which it presented on Wednesday 21 November, the European Commission has sent reasoned opinions to France, Greece, Hungary and the Netherlands for infringements in the field of taxation. It calls upon: - France to remove the VAT exoneration applied to the hire of yachts used for pleasure. Although the VAT directive does indeed provide for tax exemptions for operations concerning boats, it does not apply to luxury vessels used by physical persons for their leisure; - Greece to modify its legislation on registration tax for hire or lease vehicles. This legislation provides that if a client residing in Greece hires or leases a vehicle from a company established in another member state, the registration tax must be paid in full in Greece, whereas Greece should receive only a tax proportionate to the period of time for which the vehicle was used. Greek legislation is therefore likely to have a dissuasive effect on cross-border activities, in violation of the principle of the free movement of services laid down in the treaties; - Hungary to modify its special tax on retail trade and its tax on telecommunications, as it takes the view that these taxes are discriminatory, as they affect non-Hungarian operators disproportionately. Hungary imposes a progressive increase in the taxation rates of all retail sales companies and all telecommunications companies on the basis of their annual turnover, which ensures preferential treatment for national companies by passing the tax burdens on mainly to the foreign companies, in violation of the principle of freedom of establishment (art.49 TFEU). The Hungarian “telecommunications” tax is already the subject of a separate case brought by the Commission before the Court of Justice of the EU (see EUROPE 10580); - the Netherlands to modify three tax provisions affecting the taxation of cross-border pensions, namely: (1) the obligation on foreign pension companies to offer guarantees to the Dutch authorities if they transfer their pensions abroad or wish to exercise their activities in the Netherlands; (2) the obligation for employees to provide guarantees if their pensions are transferred abroad or if they wish to purchase pension services from other countries; (3) a tax exemption for transfers of pensions to foreign service providers by employees employed outside of the Netherlands granted only if the taxpayer provides a guarantee or if the foreign service providers are prepared to stand liable in the event of any tax debt. These conditions are not imposed upon Dutch service providers in the Netherlands and therefore constitute restrictions on the freedoms laid down in the Treaty (articles 21, 45, 49, 56 and 63 of the TFEU). The states in question have two months to respond to the objections satisfactorily, or the matters may be brought before the Court of Justice of the EU. (FG/transl.fl)