Discriminatory dividend taxation

The EU Commission has sent letters of formal notice to Italy and Finland about their rules under which dividends paid to foreign pension funds may be taxed more heavily than dividends paid to domestic pension funds. Italy and Finland are asked to reply within two months. These letters constitute the first step of the infringement procedure of Article 226 of the EC Treaty. Similar letters have been sent to the Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden on 7 May.