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Thanks for the alert Arthur.
What’s the story here? For those that don’t know, I found this quote helpful from Nicholas Hurst at http://www.europeanvoice.com/:
On Wednesday, the ECJ will hand down a ruling in infringement proceedings brought by the European Commission against Spain over its inheritance tax laws. These allow Spain’s autonomous regions to set their own inheritance tax rates. This causes a problem when family members move away from a region and are liable to pay a ‘federal’ inheritance tax rate, which is invariably higher.
Why is this an EU issue? Because of growing migration both into and out of Spain. For example, a young Spanish person who moves to the UK will pay a higher level of inheritance tax to the Spanish state than a family member who stayed in the family home. Similarly, the UK-residing children of a British person who has retired to the Balearic Islands will pay more inheritance tax to the Spanish state than the children of the Briton’s Spanish neighbour. That, says the Commission, is discrimination, which makes EU free-movement rights less attractive. On Thursday, the ECJ will also rule on a challenge brought by the Commission against Germany’s inheritance tax system, claiming that it restricts the free movement of capital.
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The verdict is out. Spain has been Told to End Foreigner Inheritance Tax Discrimination
Reuters also had a piece on this:
(Reuters) – The European Court of Justice ruled against Spain on Wednesday in a case that could reduce the amount of inheritance tax the country can charge foreigners living in Spain, currently higher than that charged Spaniards.
More than 12 percent of Spain’s total population were born elsewhere, one of the highest percentage of foreign residents in European Union countries, with most from Romania, Morocco and Britain.
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