the EU commission opens an investigation on the tax exemptions granted to the Dutch ports



A lot of the force of the logistic industry Dutch drift from the classified fiscal benefits to the enterprises de field. For this the today's announcement of the EU commission to have under way an investigation in order to verify if the tax exemptions granted by Holland to the public company, included the harbour operators, are consistent to the norms EU on the aids of State is source of worry for Amsterdam. The Commission has explained to be worried that the exemptions come to an agreement to some societies because they are of public participation only can confer they an advantage regarding the competitors.

The EU commission has announced moreover that it is separately collecting information on the fiscal cargo of the ports of other Member States and that, in particular, has informed France and Belgium about own worries regarding the taxation of the respective national ports and that it has asked Germany to supply additional information to the aim to verify that not there are undue competitive advantages granted to the German ports.

"A fair competition - the vice president of the EU commission has commented, Joaquín Almunia, in charge of the competition - is fundamental for all the operators of the market. The Commission must therefore verify that the public companies, comprised the harbour operators, in the Netherlands do not have a more favorable fiscal treatment regarding their private competitors. Moreover us it would have to be a parity of conditions between the ports of the EU and is therefore important to make so that the norms on the aids of State are respected in all the Member States".

The EU commission has remembered that, as a result of some denunciations, in May 2013 have asked Holland to abolish the fiscal dispositions that exempt some public enterprises from the obligation to pay the tax on the societies as, according to Brussels, such dispositions can selective favor the public companies regarding their private competitors in violation of the communitarian norms on the aids of State. The Commission has explained that the Dutch authorities have expressed the intention to subject the public companies to the tax on the societies, being maintained but a series of exceptions, in particular for the five ports of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Zeeland, Groningen and Moerdijk.

In 2013, moreover, the Europe Commission has sent of own initiative a questionnaire to all the Member States to the aim to trace better a panoramic one of the systems of taxation of the companies applicable to the ports. The Commission has announced of being come to acquaintance of possible fiscal advantages granted to ports of public property and private in various States EU, than in some States the ports they are not subject to social taxes, but to an alternative fiscal regime that could be more favorable, and that in other States the ports do not pay all the taxes on the enterprises because they are in loss. This - it has found Brussels - raises question marks on the fact that the public financing of such ports, for example with the recurrent compensation of their losses, respects the norms EU on the aids of State. In order to obtain information with regard to the Commission it has sent letters to Belgium and France, which first action in order to make sure that the ports in these nations do not benefit of unwarrantable fiscal advantages, let alone to Germany, whose ports seem to be subject to the tax on the societies, but the Commission has asked regarding additional information some German ports in order to make sure that they do not receive undue competitive advantages.