Turns on whether Italian regional tax on productive activities (IRAP) is a corporation tax or tax comparable to a corporation tax
The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on March 27, 2025, issued an opinion in joined cases C‑92/24 to C‑94/24 that imposition of the Italian regional tax on productive activities (IRAP), on dividends received by an Italian parent company from subsidiaries based in other member states, is inconsistent with the Parent-Subsidiary Directive (PSD) to the extent the IRAP is a corporation tax or a tax comparable to a corporation tax.
Under Italian law, companies are subject to IRAP at a rate that can vary by region. The taxable base and rate also depend on the taxpayer's business activity. For banks and financial intermediaries, the IRAP taxable base includes 50% of dividend income. The taxpayer and the European Commission (EC) argued that Article 4 of the PSD prohibits EU member states from subjecting more than 5% of dividends distributed by subsidiaries to parent companies to any form of taxation. However, the Advocate General rejected this interpretation, finding that the PSD was designed to eliminate duplicative imposition only of corporate tax. Thus, the Advocate General concluded that the key issue is whether the IRAP functions as a corporation tax or a tax comparable to a corporation tax, or if it is instead a distinct tax, and that issue must be resolved by the referring court based on the nature of the IRAP and its object of taxation.
Read an April 2025 report prepared by KPMG’s EU Tax Centre