Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Austria) by order of that court of 28 January 2005 in Winfried L. Holböck v Finanzamt Salzburg-Land

(Case C-157/05)

(2005/C 143/40)

Language of the case: German

Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the European Communities by order of the Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Austria) of 28 January 2005, received at the Court Registry on 7 April 2005, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings between Winfried L. Holböck and Finanzamt Salzburg-Land on the following question:

Do the provisions relating to the free movement of capital (Article 56 et seq. EC) preclude national legislation in force on 31 December 1993 (and remaining in force after Austria's accession to the EU on 1 January 1995), according to which dividends from inland shares are taxed at a rate of half the average tax rate applicable to the aggregate income, whereas dividends from a public limited company established in a third country (in the main proceedings, Switzerland), in which the taxable person holds two-thirds of the shares, are invariably taxed at the standard rate of income tax?