Morgan Stanley vs. Dutch tax authorities: settled after ten years
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A decade-long court case between US bank Morgan Stanley and the Dutch tax authorities has been settled, ‘Follow the Money’ has discovered. Jan van de Streek, Professor of Tax Law, spoke to the news medium: ‘I'm surprised Morgan Stanley paid everything.’
For more than a decade, US bank Morgan Stanley has been embroiled in a lawsuit with the Dutch tax authorities over dividend stripping. Investigative journalism platform Follow the Money recently discovered that the case has been settled. The bank must pay the tax authorities a sum of almost 200 million. ‘I am surprised that Morgan Stanley has paid everything, both the claimed tax and interest,’ says Van de Streek. ‘I am curious what the bank got back in return for that settlement.’
According to the professor, rising interest rates may have played a role: ‘That tax rate was 7.5% in 2024. Suppose the bank still lost the case, that interest rate could have reached enormous proportions.' The settlement does not relieve the US bank of all litigation in the Netherlands. A criminal case is still pending with the Public Prosecution Service. According to Van de Streek, there is a chance that the prosecution will drop the case: ‘The fact that Morgan Stanley has resolved the case fiscally is positive. The prosecution will undoubtedly take that into account when considering whether or not to pursue the criminal case.'
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Read the full Follow the Money article (in Dutch)