The Supreme Court has ruled, on 16 November 2022, in favour of Securitas, regarding a factual situation in which the implementation of two spin-offs in the context of an international restructuring, under the tax neutrality regime, rather than a disposal of the securities, was in dispute.
The Court interprets the prohibited tax advantage to be one that becomes the objective and purpose of the restructuring operation, rather than that objective and purpose being identified with economic or business motives.
The Supreme Court declares that the appeal brought by Securitas is admissible and partially upholds the contentious-administrative appeal filed against the Resolution of the Central Economic-Administrative Administrative Court, dated 5 June 2014, relating to the declaration of fraud by law and liquidation in respect of Corporation Tax settlement of corporate income tax for the 2006 and 2007 financial years, declaring that the conflict procedure should have been followed procedure of conflict in the application of the law, art. 15 of the LGT, should have been followed in the aforementioned financial years, and it is appropriate to apply the special deferral regime to the spin-offs for the 2006 financial year, with the consequences thereof.
Therefore, obtaining a tax advantage by applying the tax neutrality regime, in cases where such an advantage is not configured as a spurious objective, would be legitimate.
Garrido represented Securitas with Tax partner and head of the firm´s Contentious-Taxation department Raúl de Francisco Garrido.
