European Commission v Kingdom of Belgium

In European Commission v Kingdom of Belgium (Case C-110/17) (12 April 2018) the CJEU found that a provision of Belgian law on the taxation of property income was incompatible with the principle of free movement of capital.

Under Belgian law income from immoveable property is calculated by reference to the cadastral income for properties situated in Belgium and the rental value for those situated outside Belgium. According to the commission these differences in methods of calculating taxable income were incompatible with TFEU art 63 (free movement of capital) as well as the EEA Agreement art 40. The Commission pointed out in particular that in spite of its indexation and increases and adjustments applicable since 1997 the cadastral value was lower than the actual rental value and the actual rent. This resulted in a difference in treatment...