A team of Romanian lawyers specializing in European Union and tax law has obtained the opening of a case at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against the “vice tax” applied to slot machines. The stakes are huge: if the CJEU decides that this tax violates European rules on the freedom to provide services and tax principles, Romanian gambling operators could be exempted from paying it and could request the refund of the amounts paid in recent years.

Such a decision would have a major impact, estimated at tens or even hundreds of millions of euros, on the state budget, especially in the context of the current period of austerity, when the government is looking for solutions to cover the budget deficit.

The case that reached Luxembourg is coordinated by lawyers Tudor Vidrean-Căpușan, doctor of law and academic in tax law, and Adrian Șandru, specialized in European law and crimes in the business environment (white collar crimes).

Specifically, the referral to the CJEU concerns the vice tax established by GEO no. 77/2009 for slot-machine gambling operated in halls. The CJEU will analyze its compatibility with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in particular with the freedom to provide services and with the European fiscal principles regarding the equivalence and specific purpose of taxes.

The importance of the case is amplified by the current context of austerity measures and pressures on the state budget: if the CJEU determines that the tax does not comply with Union law, many operators who have paid this tax in recent years could request the refund of the amounts paid, together with the related interest, generating a considerable financial impact for the state.

“We have significant experience in strategic litigation of this type, and we know that the procedures are long-term. However, we are pleased that, in most cases, we manage to recover for bona fide taxpayers the amounts paid for taxes imposed by the Government that do not comply with the principles of European law. The recovery procedure is complex, but often the value of the amounts refunded, together with interest, comes to restore balance and bring equity“, said the coordinating lawyers.

This is not the team’s first success in Luxembourg. In the past, Tudor Vidrean-Căpușan and Adrian Șandru have obtained significant rulings in the field of taxation, including cases in which the CJEU limited excessive administrative measures and strengthened the protection of economic operators against tax authorities, as well as in similar cases regarding the vice tax on alcohol and tobacco.