The European Commission has opened a formal investigation under the EU State aid rules into a Finnish scheme to grant temporary exemption from capital gains tax for sales of agricultural land. The Commission has doubts whether the measure would be compatible with EU law. While in Cyprus, the Commission has approved a proposal by the Cypriot government to impose a special reduced tax on companies engaged in international maritime transport.
The Finnish authorities plan to grant tax relief to natural persons or estates of deceased persons selling agricultural land in the 2009 and 2010 tax years. The Commission's preliminary assessment concluded that the scheme as notified appeared to fulfill the criteria to be considered State aid. However it is doubtful whether the scheme in question would be compatible with the applicable State aid rules and the Commission has requested the Finnish authorities to clarify a number of points about its plans.
The Cypriot government proposes a tonnage tax measure for companies liable to corporation tax in Cyprus who are engaged in international maritime transport. The proposal will allow companies to opt for a tax calculated on the net tonnage of the fleet that they operate (tonnage tax) instead of being taxed on the actual profits of their maritime transport activities. The Commission accepted that the scheme is in line with the EU guidelines on state aid to maritime transport and complies with the aid ceiling as provided for in the EU guidelines.