The author, in this article, examines the ECJ decisions in Memira Holding (Case C-607/03) and Holmen (Case C-608/17), which address whether a cross-border merger and a (proposed) liquidation resulted in “final losses” that, on the basis of the Marks & Spencer (Case C-446/03) doctrine, could be transferred to a parent company in another EU Member State. The author examines the relevance of the decisions to the taxation of cross-border mergers and liquidations against the background of the Merger Directive (2009/133).