Foreign firms may be able to claim back tens of millions of euros from the Dutch state in wrongly-paid dividend tax, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Friday.

The paper bases its claim on an advisory note from the European court’s advocate general Paolo Mengozzi in the case of Portuguese firm Amurta.
Amurta has a 14% stake in Dutch holding Retailbox. In 2002 Amurta had to pay 25% tax on its Retailbox dividends and went to court, arguing EU treaties on the free movement of capital were being violated because Dutch companies did not pay dividend tax.
The European court usually accepts the recommendations of the advocate general. It is due to rule at the end of this year.
Since the beginning of this year, foreign firms with a stake of more than 5% in a Dutch company have been exempt from tax on dividends.