06/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - An Austro-German couple has won its case to submit a joint tax declaration in Germany, where one of them lives (Case C-329-05, ruling of 25 January 2005). Gerold Meindl lives in Germany and his wife Christine Meindl-Berger lives mainly in Austria. The couple are not separated. Christine received special maternity benefits in 1997 which are not taxable under Austrian legislation. The German tax office (Finanzamt) made Gerold pay taxation as if he were single this 1997, wanting him to play 24,000 Deutschmarks, 10% more than he would have to pay if taxed as being married, also because his income was not subject to taxation in Austria. The Court of Justice rejected these arguments, arguing that Article 52 of the EC Treaty (amended, now Article 43 EC) does not allow refusal to implement joint taxation for the above reasons. This was a very specific case and is unlikely to have many repercussions across the EU. (cd)