Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 6 March 2007 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Köln - Germany) - Wienand Meilicke, Heidi Christa Weyde, Marina Stöffler v Finanzamt Bonn-Innenstadt
(Income tax - Tax credit for dividends paid by resident companies - Articles 56 EC and 58 EC - Limitation of the temporal effects of the judgment)
Language of the case: German
Referring court
Finanzgericht Köln
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicants: Wienand Meilicke, Heidi Christa Weyde, Marina Stöffler
Defendant: Finanzamt Bonn-Innenstadt
Re:
Reference for a preliminary ruling - Finanzgericht Köln - Interpretation of Articles 56 EC and 58 EC - Income-tax rules providing for a 'tax credit' for dividends distributed by national companies but not for dividends distributed by companies which have their seat in another Member State
Operative part of the judgment
Articles 56 EC and 58 EC are to be interpreted as precluding tax legislation under which, on a distribution of dividends by a capital company, a shareholder who is fully taxable in a Member State is entitled to a tax credit, calculated by reference to the corporation tax rate on the distributed profits, if the dividend-paying company is established in that same Member State but not if it is established in another Member State.
____________1 - OJ C 228, 11.09.2004.