M & C Beker v Finanzamt Heilbronn

German legislation restricted the amount of foreign withholding tax which could be set against German income tax liability relating to dividends distributed by companies established outside Germany. In M & C Beker v Finanzamt Heilbronn (CJEU Case C-168/11) a couple who received dividends from several different countries appealed against notices of assessment contending that the German legislation contravened art 63 of the TFEU. The case was referred to the CJEU which held that art 63 ‘must be interpreted as precluding rules of a Member State under which in the context of a system aimed at limiting double taxation where persons subject to unlimited tax liability pay on foreign income in the State where that income originates a tax equivalent to the income tax levied by the said Member State the offsetting of that foreign tax against the amount of income tax levied...