Importance of delivering accurate/correct tax advice in international tax planning : € 17mio damages recently awarded to a Dutch DJ (Amsterdam Court of Appeal, 12 May 2026)

🔅 On 4 March 2026, the Court of First Intance of Antwerp issued a remarkable judgement in favour of the tax authorities, denying the application of the DRD Regime on dividends (up to approx. 13 mio €) distributed by a Belgian company with a PE in Dubai (“DJCo”) to its Belgian parent company (“HoldCo”) (Art. 203 ITC).

1️⃣ Belgian company with a branch in Dubai

🔸 HoldCo has been denied the DRD regime, as the dividends distributed by its subsidiary DJCo did not satisfy the subject to tax requirement (Art. 203 ITC). More particularly, DJCo fell into the “exclusion” which catches companies deriving income from foreign branches that benefit globally from a low taxation (Art. 203, §1, 4° ITC):

▶️ According to the Court, DJ Co had a branch in Dubai : it performed 60 private events in Dubai in one year under a master-agreement entered into with the DJ (the various locations, the limited time of each performance,… were considered irrelevant by the judge).

▶️ The branch income was not subject to tax in Dubai. We can assume that this income was also exempt at the level of the head office in Belgium based on the DTT between Belgium and the UAE (even if the income generated in Dubai was not effectively subject to tax, based on the Sidro-doctrine “exemption vaut impot”. Cfr Supreme court decision of 6 September 2024).

2️⃣ Landmark ruling of the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam – the importance of delivering accurate tax advice!

🔸 Tax advisors (within the EU) may be subject to mandatory disclosure rules when they are involved in international tax planning (DAC6).
🔸 A remarkable ruling of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal also highlights that an incorrect tax advice can expose advisors to legal and financial liability.

▶️ The Court has ordered a US law firm’s Dutch branch to pay € 17mio damages to a Dutch DJ, for providing incorrect US tax residency advice in 2012 (12 May 2026, ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2026:1289)

🔅 Providing accurate tax advice is key… and can sometimes be tricky!

Denis-Emmanuel Philippe