Commission Decision (EU) 2019/1352 of 2 April 2019 on the State aid SA.44896 implemented by the United Kingdom concerning CFC Group Financing Exemption (notified under document C(2019) 2526) (Text with EEA relevance.)
The group financing exemption scheme, included in the Taxes Acts as Chapter 9 of Part 9A of Taxation (International and Other Provisions) Act 2010, constitutes aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) of the Treaty, in as far as it applies to non-trading finance profits from qualifying loan relationships, which profits fall within Section 371EB (UK activities) of Part 9A of TIOPA. It does not constitute aid when applied to non-trading finance profits from qualifying loan relationships that fall within Section 371EC (capital investments from the UK) of Part 9A of TIOPA and that do not fall within Section 371EB (UK activities) of Part 9A of TIOPA. To the extent that the group financing exemption scheme constitutes aid, it forms an ‘aid scheme’ within the meaning of Article 1(d) of Regulation (EU) 2015/1589. The aid granted under the aid scheme is incompatible with the internal market and was unlawfully put into effect by the United Kingdom in breach of Article 108(3) of the Treaty.
1. The United Kingdom shall recover all incompatible aid granted under the aid scheme from the beneficiaries of that aid.
2. The sums to be recovered shall bear interest from the date on which they were put at the disposal of the beneficiary in question until their actual recovery. For the purposes of this Article, aid is deemed to be put at a beneficiary's disposal, with respect to each year, on the day that the tax foregone for that tax year as a result of the aid scheme would have fallen due in the absence of the aid scheme.
3. The interest on the sums to be recovered shall be calculated on a compound basis in accordance with Chapter V of Regulation (EC) No 794/2004.
4. The United Kingdom shall cancel all outstanding payments of aid granted under the aid scheme, and shall cease granting the benefit of the aid scheme with effect from the date of notification of this Decision.
5. Article 1 shall not apply to aid granted on the basis of the contested measure if, at the time the aid was granted, it fulfilled the conditions laid down in the Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 ( 126 ) .
1. Recovery of the aid in accordance with Article 2 shall be immediate and effective.
2. The United Kingdom shall ensure that this Decision is fully implemented within four months following the date of notification of this Decision.
1. Within two months following notification of this Decision, the United Kingdom shall submit the following information to the Commission:
(a)
a list of the beneficiaries that have received aid under the aid scheme;
(b)
a list of the tax payers that have applied the group financing exemption to non-trading finance profits from qualifying loan relationships falling within Section 371EC (capital investments from the UK) of Part 9A of TIOPA and not falling within Section 371EB (UK activities) of Part 9A of TIOPA;
(c)
for each beneficiary, the CFC charge actually charged in determining the beneficiary's liability under the corporate income tax return, for each tax year that he has applied the group financing exemption, as well as the relevant corporate income tax return forms ( 127 ) ;
(d)
for each beneficiary, the CFC charge that would have been charged if he had not applied the group financing exemption, including underlying calculations, for each tax year that the beneficiary has applied the group financing exemption;
(e)
the total aid amount and its detailed calculation (principal aid amount and recovery interest) to be recovered from each beneficiary;
(f)
documents demonstrating that the beneficiaries have been ordered to repay the aid.
2. For each beneficiary, the United Kingdom shall supply the Commission with supporting evidence demonstrating how the extent to which non-trading finance profits from qualifying loan relationships fall within Section 371EB of Part 9A of TIOPA has been calculated.
3. For each tax payer, referred to in paragraph (1)(b) of this Article, the United Kingdom shall supply the Commission with supporting evidence demonstrating that the non-trading finance profits from qualifying loan relationships fall within Section 371EC of Part 9A of TIOPA and do not fall within Section 371EB of Part 9A of TIOPA.
4. The United Kingdom shall keep the Commission informed of the progress of the national measures taken to implement this Decision until recovery of the aid in accordance with Article 2 has been completed. On request by the Commission, it shall immediately submit information on the national measures already taken and on those planned to be taken, in order to comply with this Decision, including detailed information on the amounts of aid and recovery interest already recovered from the beneficiaries.
This Decision is addressed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
