List of distinct years between two dates

Tested on SQL Server 2008

declare @smaller_date date = convert(date, '25/12/2006', 103)
declare @larger_date date = convert(date, '14/11/2013', 103)
declare @diff int
select @diff = DATEDIFF(YY, @smaller_date,  @larger_date)

;with sequencer(runner) as(
select 0 
union all
select sequencer.runner + 1 from sequencer
where runner < @diff
)
select YEAR(@smaller_date) + runner from sequencer

A date like 1/2/2013 is ambiguous: depending on the regional setting, it can be either Feb 1st, or Jan 2nd. So it's a good idea to use the YYYY-MM-DD date format when talking to the datebase.

You can generate a list of numbers using a recursive CTE:

; with  CTE as
        (
        select  datepart(year, '2006-12-25') as yr
        union all
        select  yr + 1
        from    CTE
        where   yr < datepart(year, '2013-11-14')
        )
select  yr
from    CTE

Example at SQL Fiddle.