This article examines the relevance of the 'remaining permanent establishment' requirement under the Merger Directive in the light of the recent jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union on corporate exit taxes. This requirement is a mechanism meant to ensure that Member States will be able to effectively exercise their taxing rights. However, the decisions of the Court of Justice in this field may have an impact on how the common tax system envisaged in the Merger Directive functions, obliging Member States to extend deferral to situations where the requirements envisaged in the Directive are not fulfilled.