Definition of company, associated company and permanent establishment
Article 3
For the purposes of this Directive:
1. the term ‘company of a Member State’ means any company:
  1. taking one of the forms listed in the Annex hereto; and
  2. which in accordance with the tax laws of a Member State is considered to be resident in that Member State and is not, within the meaning of a Double Taxation Convention on Income concluded with a third state, considered to be resident for tax purposes outside the Community; and
  3. which is subject to one of the following taxes without being exempt, or to a tax which is identical or substantially similar and which is imposed after the date of entry into force of this Directive in addition to, or in place of, those existing taxes:
    - impôt des sociétés/vennootschapsbelasting in Belgium,
    - selskabsskat in Denmark,
    - Körperschaftsteuer in Germany,
    - Φόρος εισοδήματος νομικών προσώπων in Greece,
    - impuesto sobre sociedades in Spain,
    - impôt sur les sociétés in France,
    - corporation tax in Ireland,
    - imposta sul reddito delle persone giuridiche in Italy,
    - impôt sur le revenu des collectivités in Luxembourg,
    - vennootschapsbelasting in the Netherlands,
    - Körperschaftsteuer in Austria,
    - imposto sobre o rendimento da pessoas colectivas in Portugal,
    - yhteisöjen tulovero/inkomstskatten för samfund in Finland,
    - statlig inkomstskatt in Sweden,
    - corporation tax in the United Kingdom;
2. a company is an ‘associated company’ of a second company if, at least:
  1. the first company has a direct minimum holding of 25 % in the capital of the second company, or
  2. the second company has a direct minimum holding of 25 % in the capital of the first company, or
  3. a third company has a direct minimum holding of 25 % both in the capital of the first company and in the capital of the second company.
Holdings must involve only companies resident in Community territory.
However, Member States shall have the option of replacing the criterion of a minimum holding in the capital with that of a minimum holding of voting rights;
3. the term ‘permanent establishment’ means a fixed place of business situated in a Member State through which the business of a company of another Member State is wholly or partly carried on.