Luxembourg, 20/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - By imposing special taxes on the formation of public and private limited liability companies, the publication and alteration of their statutes and the increase in the capital, Greece has contravened the Directive on indirect taxes on the raising of capital, indicated the Court of Justice in a press release. It points out that the 1969 Directive on the raising of capital bans any taxation with the same characteristics as capital duty (stamp duty) as contravening the aims of the Directive. The Court rejected the legitimacy of Greece's claim that the charges levied aims to raise revenue (which would make them legitimate).
Greece set up a Lawyers' Fund in 1960, funded by a levy when companies are formed. Lawyers have commented that the Court's press release does not mention an important area - the Court refused to limit its ruling in time, which means that the Lawyers' Fund will have to reimburse, in accordance with conditions set out in Greek law, all contested levies received from public and private limited companies over the years. The Greek government had requested a time limit because of the financial impact this would have on the Lawyers' Fund, but the Court rejected the request. The case was brought in 1998, which means it is one of the cases that has dragged on for some time.