EU tax litigation

No other Danish law firm has conducted as many tax cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union as Plesner. Our track record is unique. In December 2016, we won our tenth consecutive case.

The cases have resulted in amendments to both legislation and case law and they have also resulted in the repayment of billions to Danish businesses.

International Tax Review has in May 2020 named Plesner "European Court of Justice Firm of the Year". It is the first time this prestigious prize, which is given to a European law firm for its conduct of tax cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union, has been awarded to a Danish law firm. Plesner has been nominated for the prize twice before.

International Tax Review also awarded Plesner two "Impact Case Awards" for conducting the "beneficial owner" cases for the Court of Justice of the European Union.

A different and complex procedure

The first part of a preliminary reference to the CJEU is to convince the Danish court that a reference is to be made, often against objections from the Ministry of Taxation. In seven of the above ten cases the Ministry of Taxation objected to a reference being made because the Ministry was of the opinion that the interpretation was completely clear (to the Ministry's advantage). Nevertheless, the taxpayers were successful before the CJEU.

The next part is to draft the order for reference, including the questions to the CJEU, on behalf of the Danish court.

The actual litigation before the CJEU follows special procedural rules that are very different from the Danish rules.

Also the EU legal system is very different from the Danish legal system. The same goes for the weighting of the sources of law and the arguments by the CJEU. In particular, the CJEU has developed a number of special principles of interpretation.

Conducting litigation before the CJEU therefore requires extensive experience in this special process and in-depth knowledge of EU law.

Our skills

Plesner has conducted tax litigation before the CJEU for many years.

The litigation has not only been about preliminary references to the Court of Justice of the European Union but also direct legal actions before the Court of First Instance. Plesner also assists with cases considered by the European Commission before a legal action before the CJEU becomes a reality.

A number of strategic choices must continuously be made in any EU case. The right advice about each one of such choices can be crucial for the final outcome of the case.

Plesner's documented experience and results provide the best basis for being successful in the case.

Read more about our method and way of working