Interest and Royalties Directive

Given that one of the avowed purposes behind Directive 2003/49/EC (the Interest and Royalties Directive) is to ease the administrative formalities and cash-flow problems to which current arrangements give rise it is surprising and disappointing that Article 1 paragraphs 11 to 16 of the Directive are all concerned with precisely such things.

Article 1 paragraph 11 allows the source State to require 'an attestation' that the requirements of the Directive are 'substantiated' at the time that a payment of interest or royalties is made (the reference to those requirements being substantiated at that time supporting the analysis that no exemption is required by the Directive until the qualifying...