EU citizenship and direct taxation2017

This book investigates in detail how the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has tried to reconcile specific national direct tax rules with the general European Union (EU) principle of free movement of persons from the perspective of EU citizenship. Freedom of movement is a key principle of the EU resulting in the right of every EU citizen to move and reside freely within the EU. Many EU citizens work in other Member States than their Member State of origin. Direct taxes are not as such covered in the treaties and therefore have a much smaller basis for harmonization at EU level than indirect taxes. As a result, decisions of the ECJ on the clash between the EU principle of free movement and Member States' direct tax rules have a significant effect on national direct tax systems. This book focuses on the relation between free movement rights of EU citizens and the legal autonomy of Member States in the area of direct taxation.