The General Anti-Abuse Rule of article 6 of the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive

This study covers the General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR) of article 6 of the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD) (together: ATAD GAAR). This provision obliges EU Member States to combat abuse of their corporate income tax. This study is in principle legal-dogmatic but includes a significant philosophical component as the study seeks inspiration from the ideas of the philosopher of science Karl Popper. The study starts with a historical analysis of how the ATAD GAAR came to be. It is shown that the ATAD GAAR was based on the existing general anti-abuse concept which already existed in EU law. The ATAD GAAR can be summarized as an obligation for Member States to ‘’prevent abuse of their corporate income tax as if it concerns abuse of EU law’’. The ATAD is a directive, which means that Member States must implement it in their domestic legislation for it to become effective. The study analyses the various EU law consequences of the introduction of the ATAD GAAR, indicating that the provision results in significant changes. It subsequently analyses the consequences of the Dutch implementation of the ATAD GAAR. In the last chapter, the study criticizes the ATAD GAAR with reference to some ideas of Karl Popper’s The Open Society and Its Enemies. This final chapter also includes predictions on the future of the provision.