Key facts
| Item | Rate / rule |
|---|---|
| Germany - combined corporate rate | ≈30% (CIT + solidarity + trade tax) |
| Germany - withholding on outbound interest | Generally 0% |
| Hungary - corporate tax on the interest received | 9% |
| ATAD interest limitation | Net borrowing costs deductible up to 30% of EBITDA (de minimis up to €3m) |
| Netherlands - conditional withholding | 25.8% on payments to affiliates taxed ≤ 9% |
| Poland - pay-and-refund | Full withholding above PLN 2m per payer, relief by refund |
The mechanics
The structure needs three legs. First, a deduction in a high-tax country: interest is a business expense, so €1m of interest saves about €300,000 of German tax. Second, a clean exit: unlike dividends, most interest leaves Germany without withholding, and the EU Interest & Royalties Directive removes withholding between associated companies elsewhere in the Union. Third, a low-tax landing: 9% in Hungary means the group keeps the difference: about €210,000 per €1m of interest, every year.[2][8][3]
Lithuania shows the same pattern in miniature: its 10% withholding on interest to non-residents drops to 0% when the recipient company is established in the EEA or a treaty country - which is most lenders that matter.[6]
The rules that cap it
The spread survives, but the volume is policed from four directions. The ATAD interest-limitation rule caps deductible net borrowing costs at 30% of EBITDA, with a de minimis the directive sets at up to €3m. Transfer pricing requires the rate itself to be arm’s length; an inflated coupon gets repriced. Anti-hybrid rules kill deductions where the receipt is not taxed symmetrically. And source countries have begun adding their own tolls: the Dutch 25.8% conditional withholding on payments to low-taxed affiliates, and Poland’s pay-and-refund system, which withholds first on related-party passive payments above PLN 2m and asks questions later.[7][4][5]
What remains of the play
Within the caps, group financing from a low-tax member state is still ordinary, legal tax planning - real treasury operations with staff, capital at risk and market-rate loans are exactly what the rules leave room for. What no longer works is the empty version: a shelf company with one loan receivable and no people. Between the EBITDA cap, arm’s-length pricing and general anti-abuse rules, the spread only pays where the substance is real.[7]
Veelgestelde vragen
Why does Germany not withhold tax on interest paid abroad?
By design: most interest paid to non-residents is simply outside German withholding, with exceptions for certain profit-linked and bank-paid interest. Dividends, by contrast, carry 26.375% withholding.
How much interest can actually be deducted?
Under the ATAD rule, net borrowing costs are deductible up to 30% of tax EBITDA, with a de minimis of up to €3m depending on the member state’s implementation. Anything above is carried forward, not lost - but the deferral erodes the arbitrage.
Which countries make the best group lenders?
On rates alone: Hungary at 9%, Bulgaria at 10%, Cyprus at 15% with no outbound withholding of its own. In practice the answer is wherever the group can put real financing functions - the rate matters less than the substance.
Grensoverschrijdende resultaten hangen af van fiscale residentie, wetgeving inzake gecontroleerde buitenlandse vennootschappen (CFC) en reële substance: een structuur op papier is niet voldoende. Zie de disclaimer hieronder.
Bronnen
Genummerde verwijzingen die in dit artikel worden aangehaald. Wetten linken naar geconsolideerde teksten in het officiële register.
- Bedrijfsbelastingen in Duitsland
- Einkommensteuergesetz (EStG)
- Wet op de vennootschapsbelasting (1996. évi LXXXI. törvény)
- Wet op de vennootschapsbelasting 1969
- Wet op de vennootschapsbelasting (Ustawa o podatku dochodowym od osób prawnych), geconsolideerde tekst
- Wet op de vennootschapsbelasting (Pelno mokesčio įstatymas), geconsolideerde tekst
- Richtlijn antibelastingontwijking (EU) 2016/1164 - art. 4 renteaftrekbeperking
- Rente- en royaltystrichtlijn 2003/49/EG