Fiscale aftrek van verliezen in buitenland kan schatkist miljarden kosten (en)

A preliminary ruling by the EU Court of Justice allows international companies to reclaim considerable sums of money in tax from national governments.

The ruling, based on a case filed by the UK retailer Marks & Spencer, was suggested by the Court's advocate general and is likely to be confirmed by the end of the year.

It states that a British law barring M&S from offsetting tax losses made by subsidiaries in Germany, Belgium and France against its profits in the UK violated European law.

If the verdict is followed through - and the court followed the advocate general's opinion in the vast majority of cases - the ruling would have implications for most EU countries, except Austria, Denmark and Italy, according to the Financial Times.

Experts suggest the opinion makes it clear to member states that national tax rules that treat domestic and international transactions differently are illegal under EU law.

So the enforcement of the court's decision would have to lead to a rewriting of corporation tax codes.

The companies affected could then launch a string of legal actions to reclaim illegally collected tax.

Graham Aaronson, the barrister leading the case for M&S, said: "There would be hundreds if not thousands of claims, in some cases for very large sums of money. I would be surprised if the effect is less than several billions", he was quoted saying by The Times.