22-07-2011 / Article in European Taxation: The ECJ X Case (Football Club Feyenoord)
The monthly tax magazine European Taxation has published the article "The ECJ X Case (Football Club Feyenoord)". This case goes further where the Scorpio case in 2006 had stopped, because it discusses whether a withholding tax from the organizer of an event is in breach with the freedom principles of the EC Treaty. Feyenoord had organised two friendly matches in 2002 and 2004 against Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham (UK) and did not withhold the obligatory 20% Dutch tax. When the Dutch Belastingdienst (tax authorities) levied an tax assessment from Feyenoord, the club argued that the Belastingdienst should go directly to the two UK clubs.
The issue in this X case (Football Club Feyenoord) is, whether this withholding tax obligation for the local organizer is an obstacle for entering the market of another EU Member State. With the 2001/2002 EU Directives regarding the assistance in collection of taxes, it should be easy for tax authorities to send tax returns to other EU countries and approach the football clubs directly.
