Europees Hof: buitenlandse werknemers hebben recht op dezelfde belastingvoordelen als 'reguliere' werknemers (en)

EU citizens working temporarily in another member state should have the same tax benefits as nationals, the European Court of Justice has ruled.

In a judgement yesterday (1 July) the Court went against Swedish tax authorities, which had refused to grant exemption from Swedish income tax to a German pursuing a job for a few months with the Church of Sweden.

The Swedes argued that the German was not an official resident in Sweden and that legally he was therefore not entitled to Swedish tax benefits for temporary workers.

The situation of the German student was legally specific as he paid no taxes in Germany either, being financed partially by his parents and for another part by a scholarship from the German state.

However, this is typically the situation which many other EU students or youngsters would find themselves in while working in another member state.

The Court in Luxembourg has now ruled that they should benefit fully from tax allowances in the countries they work.

"Good news for students"

In their ruling, the European judges referred to article 39 of the EU treaty, which forbids "any discrimination based on nationality between workers of the member states."

The European Commission, which had intervened in the case to make the case for the German, said it is satisfied with the judgement.

A Commission spokesman stated on Thursday (1 July): "The Commission welcomes the ruling because it removes an obstacle to free movement [between EU countries] of workers"

He told the EUobserver: "This is good news for people working temporarily in another EU member state such as students."

The Finnish and French authorities had also sent lawyers to Luxembourg to support the Swedish government's position - but without success.

They claimed that foreign EU temporary workers already enjoyed lower tax rates than their nationals - which made further exemptions for foreigners unfair.

Moreover, the Finns argued that the coherence of their tax system was at stake.