Request for a preliminary ruling from the Hof van beroep te Brussel (Belgium) lodged on 19 August 2015 — Belgische Staat v Comm. VA Wereldhave Belgium and Others

(Case C-448/15)

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Hof van beroep te Brussel

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellant: Belgische Staat

Respondents: Comm. VA Wereldhave Belgium, NV Wereldhave International, NV Wereldhave

Questions referred

Is Council Directive 90/435/EEC ¹ of 23 July 1990 on the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different Member States to be construed as precluding a national rule that does not waive Belgian advance tax on income from investments in respect of dividend payments made by a Belgian subsidiary to a parent company established in the Netherlands that fulfils the condition of a minimum participating interest and the holding of such an interest, on the ground that the Netherlands parent company is a fiscal investment institution that is required to distribute all its profits to its shareholders and, subject to that proviso, is eligible for the zero rate of corporation tax?

If the answer to the first question is in the negative, are Articles 49 (ex Article 43 TEC) and 63 (ex Article 56 TEC) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (in the version in force since the amendment and numbering by the Treaty of Lisbon) to be construed as precluding a national rule that does not waive Belgian advance tax on income from investments in respect of dividend payments made by a Belgian subsidiary to a parent company established in the Netherlands that fulfils the condition of a minimum participating interest and the holding of such an interest, on the ground that the Netherlands parent company is a fiscal investment institution that is required to pay all its profits to its shareholders and, subject to that proviso, is eligible for the zero rate of corporation tax?

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¹ OJ 1990 L 225, p. 6.