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The Danish Act that provides for tax-free conversion from a personally owned company to a company under corporate ownership can be made to a company domiciled in Europe or European Economic Community country other than Denmark violates the European Community law and therefore must be changed. Other details on the Danish VOL rules are discussed.

Abuse of rights pertains to the act of using a right in order to cause damage. The principle of this right stems from legal tradition and not just based on common law. The characteristics of the abuse of rights concepts, the validity of this principle in VAT Directives and significant court decisions rendered by the European Court of Justice in regard to its application are discussed.

The International Court of Justice ruled that dual exemption and credit system do not contravene with tax treaties enacted by the European Commission. The issue of whether or not foreign dividends are subject to a higher tax rate than domestic dividends is decided by UK Courts.

The Consolidated Tax Act provides for the treatment of controlled foreign corporations located in states with preferential tax treatment laws and in which such subjects reside in Italy. Article 168 of tax legislation pertains to tax policies concerning affiliated corporations. Amendments to the aforementioned tax law and its interpretation by tax courts are discussed.

Recent decisions of tax courts in Russia interpreting the Russian Tax Code and other tax laws established that taxpayers are not responsible for the actions of its contract partners and that burden of proof lies with the tax office. The application of the substance-over-form doctrine in Russian tax law, as well as recent decisions of tax courts, are discussed.

It is not only the International Court of Justice that is active in the interpretation and construction of tax treaties but also the European Union through the European Commission. The Commission's Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base and other initiatives on tax relief and cross-border loss relief are discussed.

The diversity in the corporate income taxation (CIT) regulations within Europe Union market and the consequences of this diversity are discussed. The differences in CIT prevalent within Spain are analyzed. The European Commission's proposals for harmonizing the corporate tax system are summarized.

German company Burda GmbH distributed dividends to its parent companies which holds 50 percent of its shares. Mengozzi's nonbinding opinion contended that the provision of the EC Parent-Subsidiary Directive does not preclude the Germany from levying corporate income taxes. Other details of the case are discussed.

European Union member countries apply different tax rates to companies. A common corporate consolidated tax base helps reduce obstacles to companies operating within the EU, but a minimum corporate tax rate must be set as well.

The key facts of the ruling passed by the European Court of Justice stating France's decision to withhold tax on outbound dividends as a violation of European Constitution Treaty are examined.

CELF, a French cooperative society in public limited company form, received state aid. However, its competitor Societe internationale de diffusion et d'edition (SIDE) questioned the Commission the validity of the state aid. The European Court of Justice ruled that Member States should inform the Commission of any plans to alter or grant state aid. Other details of the case are presented.

The European Court of Justice held that the Dutch dividend withholding tax law is in conflict with the European Commission tax treaty on free movement of capital. The Dutch law requires different levels of participation for cross-border dividend distributions which restricts free movement of capital.