Joaquim Pedro Lampreia (Partner) and Rita Pereira de Abreu (Associate) write an article for AFP's “Revista da Fiscalidade” entitled "Brisal decision: there and back again".

"In 2016, the European Court of Justice issued a decision with great impact on the withholding tax mechanisms on interest, the Brisal Case (C-18/15), deciding that Member-States are not allowed to impose withholding taxes on interest paid to non-resident financial institutions without giving them the opportunity to deduct specific or general business expenses directly related to their activity. The path towards this decision was beset by many obstacles, given that this same Court issued another decision, during the national proceedings, dismissing the action presented by the European Commission against the Portuguese State on this same very issue. This article will address the changes on the procedural and argumentation strategy that were enacted to cope with the such dismissal, the take-aways of such changes, as well as the effects of the Brisal Decision on the Portuguese process and the consequences (or lack thereof) in the national law."

 Read the article here.