To counter tax arbitrage resulting from the use of hybrid financial instruments, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggested the implementation of anti-hybrid mismatch rules, which align the domestic tax treatment of hybrid financial instruments with their tax treatment in foreign countries. This paper assesses the enforceability of these so-called “linking rules” in the light of European Union (EU) law. Since the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has yet to rule on their relation to EU law, considerable weight is assigned to legal literature and comparable ECJ case law. Following the various steps of the analytical framework adopted by the ECJ, the author concludes that OECD linking rules are enforceable in the light of EU law, provided that the Member States implementing these rules domestically complement them with additional conditions
