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Kupongskatt på utländska offentliga pensionsinstitut - en inskränkning av den fria rörligheten för kapital?

Apelgren, Sandra LU (2023) JURM02 20231
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
Foreign public pension funds receiving dividends from Swedish companies are in Sweden subject to withholding tax of up to 30 percent of the gross amount of the dividends. The domestic equivalents, the Swedish governmental pension funds, the AP-funds, are exempt from income tax as they are a part of the Swedish state. This difference in taxation has given rise to infringement proceedings against Sweden, where the European Commission has argued that the Swedish rules are in violation of Article 63 TFEU. The European Commission believes that the AP-funds and foreign public pension funds are in an objectively comparable situation and should as a result be treated equally in terms of taxation. In contrast, the Swedish government argues that the... (More)
Foreign public pension funds receiving dividends from Swedish companies are in Sweden subject to withholding tax of up to 30 percent of the gross amount of the dividends. The domestic equivalents, the Swedish governmental pension funds, the AP-funds, are exempt from income tax as they are a part of the Swedish state. This difference in taxation has given rise to infringement proceedings against Sweden, where the European Commission has argued that the Swedish rules are in violation of Article 63 TFEU. The European Commission believes that the AP-funds and foreign public pension funds are in an objectively comparable situation and should as a result be treated equally in terms of taxation. In contrast, the Swedish government argues that the subjects are not in comparable situations and that the difference in taxation can be justified by public interest. In January 2023, the same issue arose in a case in the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court, where the court has requested a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The aim of this thesis is to examine whether the Swedish tax rules concerning the taxation of the AP-funds and foreign public pension funds for dividends from Swedish companies are in violation of the rules of EU law on free movement of capital. In order to achieve this purpose an account is given of how the AP-funds and foreign public pension funds are taxed in Sweden. Furthermore, the thesis examines the European Commission’s infringement proceedings against Sweden and explores the rules set forth by EU law for national regulations. The most significant case for the thesis is the ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Pensioenfonds Metaal en Techniek case (C-252/14) and the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court's subsequent ruling in HFD 2017 ref. 9. The essay reaches the conclusion that the Swedish rules on withholding tax on dividends to foreign public pension funds are incompatible with the free movement of capital. The reason being that foreign public pension funds are in a comparable situation to that of the AP funds and that the differential tax treatment does not seem to be justifiable. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Utländska offentliga pensionsinstitut som får utdelningar från svenska företag beskattas i Sverige med kupongskatt på upp till 30 procent av utdelningens bruttobelopp. De inhemska motsvarigheterna, AP-fonderna, är statliga myndigheter och omfattas av statens skattebefrielse enligt inkomstskattelagen. Denna skillnad i beskattning av utdelningar har gett upphov till ett fördragsbrottsärende mot Sverige där EU-kommissionen anfört att de svenska reglerna strider mot artikel 63 FEUF. Kommissionen menar att AP-fonderna och utländska offentliga pensionsinstitut befinner sig i objektivt jämförbara situationer och därför ska likabehandlas skattemässigt. Den svenska regeringen menar, i motsats till kommissionen, att subjekten inte befinner sig i... (More)
Utländska offentliga pensionsinstitut som får utdelningar från svenska företag beskattas i Sverige med kupongskatt på upp till 30 procent av utdelningens bruttobelopp. De inhemska motsvarigheterna, AP-fonderna, är statliga myndigheter och omfattas av statens skattebefrielse enligt inkomstskattelagen. Denna skillnad i beskattning av utdelningar har gett upphov till ett fördragsbrottsärende mot Sverige där EU-kommissionen anfört att de svenska reglerna strider mot artikel 63 FEUF. Kommissionen menar att AP-fonderna och utländska offentliga pensionsinstitut befinner sig i objektivt jämförbara situationer och därför ska likabehandlas skattemässigt. Den svenska regeringen menar, i motsats till kommissionen, att subjekten inte befinner sig i objektivt jämförbara situationer, och att skillnaden i beskattning dessutom är motiverad av tvingande skäl av allmänintresse. I januari 2023 aktualiserade sig samma fråga i ett mål i Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen där domstolen har beslutat om att inhämta ett förhandsavgörande från EU-domstolen.
Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka om de svenska reglerna om beskattning av svenska respektive utländska offentliga pensionsinstitut för utdelning från svenska företag strider mot EU-rättens regler om fri rörlighet för kapital. För att uppnå syftet redogörs för hur Sverige beskattar dels de inhemska offentliga pensionsinstituten, AP-fonderna, dels utländska offentliga pensionsinstitut. Vidare redogörs för kommissionens fördragsbrottstalan mot Sverige samt vilka krav EU-rätten ställer på medlemsstaternas nationella skatteregler. Det mest betydelsefulla rättsfallet på området är EU-domstolens avgörande i mål C-252/14 Pensioenfonds Metaal en Techniek och Högsta förvaltningsdomstolens efterföljande avgörande i HFD 2017 ref. 9. I uppsatsen nås slutsatsen att det svenska uttaget av kupongskatt på utdelningar till utländska offentliga pensionsinstitut är oförenligt med den fria rörligheten för kapital. Skälet är att de inhemska och utländska offentliga pensionsinstituten befinner sig i objektivt jämförbara situationer där de utländska subjekten särbehandlas negativt. Dessutom tycks den skattemässiga särbehandlingen inte kunna rättfärdigas. (Less)
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author
Apelgren, Sandra LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Swedish withholding tax on foreign public pension funds - a restriction on the free movement of capital?
course
JURM02 20231
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
skatterätt, kupongskatt, fri rörlighet för kapital
language
Swedish
id
9116035
date added to LUP
2023-06-13 08:42:34
date last changed
2023-06-13 08:42:34
@misc{9116035,
  abstract     = {{Foreign public pension funds receiving dividends from Swedish companies are in Sweden subject to withholding tax of up to 30 percent of the gross amount of the dividends. The domestic equivalents, the Swedish governmental pension funds, the AP-funds, are exempt from income tax as they are a part of the Swedish state. This difference in taxation has given rise to infringement proceedings against Sweden, where the European Commission has argued that the Swedish rules are in violation of Article 63 TFEU. The European Commission believes that the AP-funds and foreign public pension funds are in an objectively comparable situation and should as a result be treated equally in terms of taxation. In contrast, the Swedish government argues that the subjects are not in comparable situations and that the difference in taxation can be justified by public interest. In January 2023, the same issue arose in a case in the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court, where the court has requested a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The aim of this thesis is to examine whether the Swedish tax rules concerning the taxation of the AP-funds and foreign public pension funds for dividends from Swedish companies are in violation of the rules of EU law on free movement of capital. In order to achieve this purpose an account is given of how the AP-funds and foreign public pension funds are taxed in Sweden. Furthermore, the thesis examines the European Commission’s infringement proceedings against Sweden and explores the rules set forth by EU law for national regulations. The most significant case for the thesis is the ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Pensioenfonds Metaal en Techniek case (C-252/14) and the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court's subsequent ruling in HFD 2017 ref. 9. The essay reaches the conclusion that the Swedish rules on withholding tax on dividends to foreign public pension funds are incompatible with the free movement of capital. The reason being that foreign public pension funds are in a comparable situation to that of the AP funds and that the differential tax treatment does not seem to be justifiable.}},
  author       = {{Apelgren, Sandra}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Kupongskatt på utländska offentliga pensionsinstitut - en inskränkning av den fria rörligheten för kapital?}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}