98/476/EC: Commission Decision of 21 January 1998 on tax concessions under § 52(8) of the German Income Tax Act [notified under document number C(1998) 231] (Only the German text id authentic) (Text with EEA relevance)

• Articles: 4

Article 1

1. The tax concession provided for in § 52(8) of the Income Tax Act constitutes State aid to companies with no more than 250 employees and having their registered office and central administration in the new Länder or West Berlin and is incompatible with the common market pursuant to Article 92(1) of the EC Treaty and Article 61(1) of the EEA Agreement.

2. Germany is called on to repeal § 52(8) of the Income Tax Act.

Article 2

1. Any aid already paid under the scheme referred to in Article 1(1) is unlawful, having been granted before the Commission Decision.

2. Germany shall ensure that any aid unlawfully granted is repaid.

The aid shall be recovered in accordance with the procedures and provisions of national law, and in particular the national rules on default interest, with interest running from the date of the grant of the unlawful aid, and the rate applied being the reference interest rate used in Germany at the time the aid was granted for calculating the grant equivalent of regional aid.

Article 3

Germany shall inform the Commission within two months of notification of this Decision of the measures it has taken to comply with it.

Article 4

This Decision is addressed to the Federal Republic of Germany.

Done at Brussels, 21 January 1998.

For the Commission

Karel VAN MIERT

Member of the Commission

(1) BGBl. 1995 I 1250; entered into force 1 January 1996.

(2) SG(97) D/2381.

(3) OJ C 172, 6. 6. 1997, p. 2.

(4) Constitution of reserves under § 6b(3) of the Income Tax Act.

(5) § 1(2) of the Assisted Areas Act (Fördergebietsgesetz).

(6) Bundessteuerblatt 1996, Teil I, No 1, p. 2.

(7) OJ C 68, 6. 3. 1996, p. 9.

(8) Case C-39/94 SFEI and Others v. La Poste and Others [1996] ECR I-3547, paragraph 60.

(9) OJ L 143, 15. 6. 1993, p. 7.

(10) [1987] ECR 4013, paragraph 18.

(11) Joined Cases 67/85, 68/85 and 70/85 Van der Kooy and Others v. Commission [1988] ECR 219.

(12) Joined Cases C-78/90 to C-83/90 Compagnie commerciale de l'Ouest and Others v. Receveur des douanes de La Pallice Port [1992] I-1847, paragraph 35.

(13) Case C-142/87 Belgium v. Commission [1990] ECR I-959.

(14) OJ C 31, 3. 2. 1979, p. 9.

(15) Case C-278/95 [1997] ECR I-2507, paragraph 55.

(16) OJ C 212, 12. 8. 1998, p. 2.

(17) OJ C 373, 29. 12. 1994, p. 3.

(18) OJ C 288, 23. 9. 1997, p. 5.

(19) See Commission Decision 98/194/EC of 1 October 1997 concerning the extension of the 8 % investment premium, [1986] ECR 273 State aid measure C 28/96 (OJ L 73, 12. 3. 1998, p. 38).

(20) OJ C 368, 23. 12. 1994, p. 12.

(21) [1986] ECR 273.

(22) OJ 2, 15. 1. 1962, p. 36/62.