Court of Justice (Full Court) 22 October 1998, C-10/97 to C-22/97 (Ministero delle Finanze v IN.CO.GE.'90 Srl, Idelgard Srl, Iris'90 Srl, Camed Srl, Pomezia Progetti Appalti Srl (PPA), Edilcam Srl, A. Cecchini & C. Srl, EMO Srl, Emoda Srl, Sappesi Srl, Ing. Luigi Martini Srl, Giacomo Srl and Mafar Srl.)

Also known as

In joined preliminary ruling references from the Pretura Circondariale di Roma, the Court of Justice held that the incompatibility of a domestic charge (the Italian administrative charge for company registration, *tassa di concessione governativa*) with Community law—specifically Article 10 of Directive 69/335/EEC—does not render that charge non-existent or automatically strip the underlying legal relationship of its fiscal character under national law. A national court is obliged to disapply the conflicting national legislation and, in principle, to uphold claims for repayment, but such repayment must be governed by national procedural rules, provided those rules are no less favourable than those applicable to similar domestic actions and do not render the exercise of Community law rights virtually impossible or excessively difficult. The reclassification of the legal relationship established when the unlawful charge was levied—including the applicable limitation period and jurisdictional characterisation—remains a matter for national law.AI