On 23 July 2007, the European Commission announced that it had formally requested Austria (case reference no. 2004/4346) and Germany (case reference no. 2004/4349) to amend their tax rules concerning outbound dividend payments to companies. Furthermore, the Commission also sent requests for information to Finland (case reference no. 2006/4096) and Italy (case reference no. 2006/4094) with respect to their tax regime applicable to outbound dividends paid to foreign pension funds. Details are described below. (a) Austria and Germany. Austria and Germany tax outbound dividends (dividends paid by resident companies to non-resident shareholders) more heavily than domestic dividends (dividends paid by...