Abstract (eng)
This master thesis deals with the implementation of Controlled Foreign Company (CFC)
rules in a total of 11 countries in Europe. The author takes the Anti-Tax Avoidance-Directive
(ATAD), issued by the European Commission in 2016, as an essential reference
criterion.
To guarantee a high-quality analysis, the author starts with a characterization of CFC
rules right after some introductory words on general measures against tax avoidance.
With a precise definition of CFC rules, which is based on available literature and sources,
it is easier to distinguish them from other anti-tax avoidance rules such as the General
Anti Abuse Rule (GAAR). In addition, the author gives an outlook on what legal requirements
must be fulfilled by such provisions in order to avoid infringing EU law.
This is followed by a characterization of the ATAD. In this part, the individual measures
that are required to be implemented by any EU-member state are analyzed. Special reference
is made to Articles 7 and 8, as they contain such CFC rules. In the analysis, the
provisions of those two articles are examined according to the definition given above.
Finally, in Section 5, the actual investigation of this master thesis takes place. All eleven
countries listed in section 2.3 are examined for their national legislation here. In the first
subsection, the author considers the time before the mandatory implementation of the
ATAD and analyzes whether CFC or similar comparable regulations existed before this
directive. If this is the case, he describes these provisions in detail. Finally, in the other
subsection, the author analyzes the implementation of the ATAD into statutory legislation
on national level, describing which approach of the Directive has been implemented, what
exceptions there are, and how other provision that existed prior to any implementation
have changed.
As a result, it becomes clear that, despite the uniform specification of the ATAD as a
minimum standard, the investigated states have chosen different implementation options,
which sometimes results in large differences between the national provisions. How these
differences will manifest themselves in practice partly depends on the role that will be
given to them by case law in future.