CFE Opinion Statement on Discriminatory Gift Taxation Between Transfer to Domestic & Foreign Foundations
CFE Opinion Statement ECJ 1/2026 on the CJEU in Case C-142/24, Familienstiftung v Finanzamt Köln-West
In its Opinion Statement, CFE Tax Advisers Europe notes that the judgment confirms settled case law that inheritance and gift tax measures fall within the scope of the free movement of capital, including where complex legal structures such as family foundations are involved. The Court’s approach to comparability is consistent with earlier case law, focusing on the immediate taxable event rather than downstream tax consequences.
The CFE further observes that the judgment represents a development in the Court’s case law on fiscal coherence, illustrating a more accommodating approach to the existence of a direct link between a tax advantage and a corresponding burden. At the same time, the Court’s emphasis on proportionality stricto sensu highlights that Member States remain constrained in designing inheritance and gift tax regimes that differentiate between domestic and cross-border situations. The practical application of the judgment will therefore depend on whether national rules can be shown not to impose systematically heavier tax burdens on foreign family foundations.
