In Agro-B Spol sro v Czech Republic (ECHR Case 740/05) a company applied to the ECHR for a ruling that the imposition of a ‘real estate transfer tax’ contravened the European Convention on Human Rights.
The ECHR rejected this contention and dismissed the application observing that the tax had ‘a statutory basis’ and holding that it was not disproportionate ‘especially in view of the wide margin of appreciation of States in devising their taxation scheme’. The ECHR described the application as ‘manifestly ill-founded’.
Why it matters: Article 1 of the First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights provides that ‘every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions’ but goes on to add that ‘the preceding provisions shall not … in any way impair the right of a State to enforce such laws as it deems necessary to control the...
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