The French Administrative Court of Appeal of Douai rules that the use of a tax on certain advertising expenses, which finances modernization projects in the sector of the general press, is a State aid and is illegal for lack of notification (Auchan France)

Berkani, Elias

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25 Oct 2005

The French Administrative Court of Appeal of Douai rules that the use of a tax on certain advertising expenses, which finances modernization projects in the sector of the general press, is a State aid and is illegal for lack of notification (Auchan France)

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Reference

Administrative Court of Appeal of Douai, Auchan France, n° 04DA00880, 25 October 2005 (French)

By decision of 25 October 2005, the Administrative Court of Appeal of Douai ruled that the use of the Tax on certain advertising expenses, which mainly finance the Found for Modernization of the Daily Press for general and political information, is a state aid in the meaning of Article 87 EC Treaty. Because of a lack of notification of this aid, the companies subject to this tax are admissible to ask for its reimbursement. Facts Auchan France is a major operator in the sector of retail distribution. It is subject to the tax on certain advertising expenses, instituted by the French Tax General Code, which is levied on any person subject to VAT and exceeding an annual turnover of FRF 5,000,000. The bases of this tax are the expenses for production and distribution of advertising prints

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Author

Elias Berkani
Schmitt Avocats (Paris)

France 16 contributions 86781 visits

Quotation

Elias Berkani, The French Administrative Court of Appeal of Douai rules that the use of a tax on certain advertising expenses, which finances modernization projects in the sector of the general press, is a State aid and is illegal for lack of notification (Auchan France), 25 October 2005, e-Competitions October 2005, Art. N° 407

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