Rücknahme der Vorlage zum EuGH: Ist der steuerliche Querverbund jetzt gesichert?

Horizontal tax group consolidations are an important and often used instrument in financing public sector undertakings, especially on the municipal level, in Germany. The German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB) estimates the annual financial impact of these tax consolidations at several billion Euros. Nevertheless, its compatibility with EU State Aid rules has long been controversial, both on the national as well as the EU level. Meanwhile, this controversy has reached a new stage. The German Federal Court of Finance (Bundesfinanzhof) submitted a preliminary ruling on the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) as the question whether tax relief provided by such means for permanently loss-making activities in the public sector, pursuant to Section 8 (7) of the German Corporate Tax Code (KStG), is contrary to EU State Aid Rules (Art. 107 TFEU). After the claimants’ withdrawal of the appeal to the German Federal Court of Finance, the national case and consequently the CJEU’s preliminary ruling was discontinued as of 29th January 2020. Thus, while the CJEU will, at least for the time being, not rule on this matter, the question of compatibility with EU law remains.