The General Court today ruled on Case T‑112/22, an action for annulment brought by Svenska Bankföreningen, Swedish association of bankers, and Länsförsäkringar Bank against Commission decision in Case SA.56348 - Sweden: Swedish tax on credit institutions.
In 2021, Sweden had notified to the Commission a draft law introducing a risk tax on credit institutions, together with amendments to the Law on foreign tax credit. Sweden argued that the tax did not meet the selectivity criterion under Article 107(1) TFEU and thus did not constitute State aid. The Commission agreed with this assessment and adopted the above mentioned decision.
In their action challenging that decision, the applicants argued that their procedural rights had been infringed, that the Commission should have had serious difficulties and should have initiated the formal investigation procedure.
The General Court dismissed the action and concluded that the applicants had failed to substantiate that the Commission should have harboured doubts about the qualification of the tax necessitating the opening of the formal investigation procedure. Crucially, the Court found no evidence to support the contention that the Commission encountered serious difficulties in assessing critical aspects of the tax, such as the tax base, the liable parties, and the threshold for tax liability.
For further information: see General Court’s judgement.