The European Commission has referred The Netherlands to the EU's Court of Justice for purported discriminatory tax treatment of gifts to charities. Under Dutch tax law donations to foreign charity cannot qualify for tax relief unless the foreign charity has registered itself in The Netherlands. In the Commission's view, this treatment discourages Dutch taxpayers from making donations to foreign charities which are not registered in The Netherlands.

The Commission considers that the requirement for foreign charities to register in the Netherlands is disproportionate and incompatible with the EU rules on the free movement of capital guaranteed by Article 63 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 40 of the European Economic Agreement.