The Gibraltar corporate tax scheme (2010) is based on the territorial principle: all activities deriving from or accrued in Gibraltar are taxed. However, there exists an exemption for passive income (i.e. dividends, royalties and certain types of interests) which is no longer subject to tax in Gibraltar irrespective of where the source of the income is located.
The Commission received a complaint from Spain in June 2012 and subsequently it has opened an investigation to verify whether the new tax regime selectively favors certain categories of companies in breach of EU state aid rules.
Gibraltar has recently introduced an amendment (July 2013) repealing the exemption for inter-company loan interest.