The Belgian Dividend Withholding Tax Exemption Cases: Scope for Reasonable Doubt that the Object and Purpose of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive (2011/96) Had Been Defeated?

On 18 July 2025, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled (implicitly) that granting the Dutch dividend withholding tax exemption for dividends distributed to Belgian tax resident intermediate holding companies of Belgian resident individuals would defeat the object and purpose of the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive (2011/96). The absence of a request for a preliminary ruling in respect of this judgment implies that there was no scope for reasonable doubt that such object and purpose would have been violated had the withholding tax exemption been granted. This article examines the grounds for this absence of scope for reasonable doubt.