The EU Court of Justice upholds the General Court’s classification of the Spanish tax rules on the amortization of financial goodwill as State aid incompatible with the internal market (Deutsche Telekom / Banco Santander / Sigma Alimentos Exterior / Prosegur Compañia de Seguridad / Duty Free Group / Banco Santander / Santusa)

The Court of Justice dismisses the appeals brought against the judgments of the General Court upholding the classification of the Spanish tax rules on the amortisation of financial goodwill as State aid incompatible with the internal market* In 2007, after a number of written questions had been put by Members of the European Parliament and after a private operator had submitted a complaint, the European Commission initiated a formal procedure to investigate whether the Spanish tax legislation on the amortisation of financial goodwill for acquisitions of shareholdings in other undertakings by resident companies was compatible with the State aid provisions of the FEU Treaty. Under a tax measure introduced in 2001 into the Spanish Corporate Tax Law (‘the tax measure at issue’), the