The Queen v. H.M. Treasury And Commissioners Of Inland Revenue, Ex Parte Daily Mail And General Trust PLC
European Union Court of Justice
Case 81/87, [1988] E.C.R. 5483, [1988] 3 C.M.L.R. 713 (1988)
- Written by Elliot Stern, JD
Facts
Daily Mail and General Trust PLC (Daily Mail) (plaintiff) was incorporated in the United Kingdom (UK) (defendant), and its central management and control headquarters was in the UK. Daily Mail wanted to move its headquarters to the Netherlands while maintaining its status as a UK-incorporated company. In the UK, a company could retain its status as a UK company if its registered office was in the UK, even if its headquarters was located elsewhere. By contrast, in other European Union (EU) member states, a company that relocated central administration or headquarters outside of the member state would cease its status as a company incorporated in that member state and become subject to settling tax obligations as part of winding up the company. However, unlike some member states, UK law required any company that resided in the UK to obtain consent to cease its status as a UK resident (the consent requirement). This law ensured that a company that accumulated reserves as a UK resident could not avoid UK taxation by changing residence because only UK residents were subject to UK’s corporation tax. Daily Mail sued the UK on the grounds that the consent requirement violated the freedom of establishment for companies guaranteed under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
What to do next…
Here's why 824,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 989 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
