In our beinformed dated February 14, 2018, we presented a decision of the European Court of Justice (joint cases C 504/16 „Deister Holding“ and C 613/16 „Juhler Holding“) stating that the German anti-abuse rule of Section 50d (3) of the German Income Tax Act in the version of 2007, which denies refunds on withholding tax on dividends to European parent companies, violates European law. Specifically, the provision violates both the Parent-Subsidiary Directive and the freedom of establishment. Even though the decision immediately affects only assessment years until 2011, it further strengthens the already existing doubts that the current version of the German Income Tax Act is in line with European law. The German financial authorities have reacted to this decision and published a new circular on April 4, 2018, according to which Section 50d (3) of the German Income Tax Act in the version of 2007 is no longer applicable. The Circular also softens the impact of the current version of the provision.