In Schröder v Finanzamt Hameln (ECJ Case C-450/09) a German woman transferred some property to her two sons under an agreement whereby each of the sons paid her an annuity of €1 000 per month. The sons received rental income from the property.
One of the sons lived in Germany and was permitted to deduct the annuity payments from the rental income under German law. The other son (S) lived in Belgium and was not allowed to make a similar deduction. He appealed and the case was referred to the ECJ for a ruling on whether the relevant German legislation contravened Article 63 of the TFEU.
The ECJ found in favour of S holding that ‘Article 63 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State which while allowing a resident taxpayer to deduct the annuities paid...