TARGET, with Alfredo Malguzzi, Martino Demaria and Giovanni Antelmi, together with Prof. Maurizio Leo, has successfully assisted two positions, attributable to the same Private Equity operator, in the tax litigation defined by recent rulings of the Tax Court of First Instance of Rome, concerning the contested application of the withholding tax exemption regime on dividends distributed to non-residents, pursuant to Art. 27-bis of Presidential Decree No. 600/1973, which implemented Directive No. 90/435/EEC, later recast in Directive 2011/96/EU (the so-called "Parent-Subsidiary Directive"). The case originated from an appeal against the Notices of Assessment issued by the Italian Tax Authority against two Italian companies, bearing the recovery of withholding taxes not applied on dividends paid to the common parent company, an entity residing in another EU member state, deputed to the management and coordination of investments made by a Private Equity fund under British law. The objection, in particular, stemmed from the allegedly abusive nature of the parent company, which, according to the Tax Authority, was interposed for the sole purpose of benefiting from the aforementioned exemption regime. The critical issue raised overwhelms the structures that are typically adopted in the private equity sector and the ruling is, therefore, of particular importance for this industry.