Italian Supreme courts reverses course on the issue of re-characterization of an Italian foreign owned company as permanent establishment of its foreign parent. The decisions seems to depart significantly from previously established case law stemming from the Supreme Court’s decisions in the Philip Morris case and provide more clarity to foreign businesses interested in expanding into Italy

Italy issued circular n. 26/E of May 21, 2009 which provides clarifications on the new EU dividend withholding tax. The reduced tax rate of 1.375 percent applies to dividends paid to companies that are resident in an EU member state and are subject to corporate tax in their own state of residence, even though they do not pay any tax on their income due to an exemption or other particular tax regime that applies in that state.