Luxembourg, 04/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - Advocate General Luís Miguel Poiares Maduro will be publishing conclusions on 7 April 2005 on the Marks and Spencer case, proposing to the European Court of Justice a response to the questioned posed to the Court by the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice in London in a dispute between Marks and Spencer and the British tax office.
The main question is whether the UK Income and Corporation Taxes Act of 1988 - banning parent companies resident for tax purposes in the UK to cut declared taxes by deducting losses made by subsidiaries based for tax purposes in other Member States - is an obstacle to the EU freedom of establishment. The British court points out that such a tax deduction would be possible if the subsidiaries in question were registered for tax purposes in the UK.
Marks and Spencer wants to deduct large losses made by its subsidiaries on the European mainland.
Once the Advocate General has published his conclusions, the European Court of Justice will probably issue its ruling - of interest across the EU - at the end of 2005 or the start of 2006 (see EUROPE of 2 February, p. 18).