Finanzamt Ulm v Ingeborg Wagner-Raith (as successor in title to Mrs Maria Schweier)

In Finanzamt Ulm v Ingeborg Wagner-Raith (as successor in title to Mrs Maria Schweier) (C-560/13) (21 May 2015) the CJEU found that the acquisition of units in offshore investment funds and the receipt of dividends deriving from them involved financial services provided by those investment funds so that their taxation came within the scope of TFEU art 64.

Between 1997 and 2003 Ms Schweier had had an account with a Liechtenstein Bank containing holdings in investment funds established in the Cayman Islands. Those investment funds did not comply with German statutory obligations so that flat-rate taxation applied. Mrs Schweier contended that this was contrary to TFEU art 64 (on free movement of capital).

The key issue was therefore whether art 64 meant that the relevant German legislation constituted a measure which related to the movement of capital involving the provision of financial services. The CJEU noted...