On 6 October 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on an issue referred to the Court by the Austrian Higher Administrative Court concerning Austria's group taxation regime, which allows for the depreciation of goodwill derived from the acquisition of a participation in a resident group subsidiary. Under the regime, the parent company may depreciate the goodwill up to 50% of the purchase price of a holding in a resident company, but may not depreciate goodwill in the case of the acquisition of a holding in a non-resident company.

In its decision, the Court ruled that such differing treatment of resident and non-resident holdings violates the EU's freedom of establishment principle (Article 49 TFEU). Click the following link for the full text of the CJEU decision.