Evaluation of Turkish Corporate Tax Law under the Principle of Freedom of Establishment

Abstract

Corporate tax law has been closely related to the principle of freedom of establishment. Because European Union (EU) Member States have declined to resign sovereignty in the field of direct taxation, harmonization progress in corporate taxation in the EU has been slow. Although EU treaties, regulations, and directives are all measures of positive integration, case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) declaring national tax measures incompatible with primary EU law is that of negative integration. This paper discusses the corporation tax field and its' many important decisions within the principle of freedom of establishment and what affects these decisions have on Member States' corporate tax law. This article demonstrates Turkey's significant efforts to fulfil requested accession criteria concerning economic and tax legislation with the EU in light of CJEU's case law.