Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published during the week of 15 - 21 March 2021.
- Judgment of 25. February 2021 (2C_1031/2020): Real Estate Profit Tax 2018 (Zurich); The taxpayer AG purchased an undeveloped plot of land in 2009; It allocated the acquisition costs to fixed assets in its books; It planned and projected an office complex on the site; Meanwhile, parking spaces were rented out on the property; In 2018, the taxpayer sold the undeveloped land, together with the rights to the building project and the legally valid building permit, to an unrelated party; In addition to the land at issue, the taxpayer held another parcel of land, which it developed and subsequently sold. The taxpayer considered itself to be a commercial real estate trader and claimed additional expenses in its real estate gains tax return; the taxpayer's status as a commercial real estate trader was in dispute; the Federal Supreme Court upheld the lower court's finding that the taxpayer had proceeded in a planned and systematic manner, that the listing of the properties under the fixed assets was comprehensible, justifiable and reasonable against the background of the services rendered (construction and planning activities). The Federal Supreme Court upheld the lower court's finding that the taxpayer acted in a planned and systematic manner, that the inclusion of the properties under fixed assets was comprehensible against the backdrop of the services rendered (construction and planning activities), that there was no need to speak of classic investment properties and that the taxpayer therefore qualified as a commercial property trader.
- Judgment of 3 March 2021 (2C_859/2020): VAT, 1st-4th quarter 2009; The complainant alleges that the lower court made an erroneous determination of the facts. He states that his suppliers had wrongly invoiced him for services without adjusting to the practice of the FTA regarding the VAT treatment of prepaid telephone cards and call credits, which was amended on 23 December 2008, and that the lower instance did not correctly take into account the VAT treatment of prepaid telephone cards in the entire distribution chain. There was no clearly erroneous finding of fact in the present case. On the merits, the complainant alleged a violation of the principle of proportionality. Dismissal of the taxpayer's appeal.
- Judgment of 3 March 2021 (2C_97/2021): Direct federal tax and cantonal and communal taxes 2007 (Vaud); The complainants claimed in the context of revision proceedings that the proposal they had accepted concerning a tax correction in the simplified procedure had come about through pressure. Furthermore, the complainants claimed that the trustee had made accounting errors in this tax period. The Federal Supreme Court did not consider the alleged exertion of pressure to be proven in any way. The Federal Supreme Court considered the alleged accounting errors of the trustee to be arguments that could have been raised with reasonable diligence already in the course of the ordinary proceedings. Dismissal of the taxpayer's appeal.
- Judgment of 4 March 2021 (2C_712/2020): State and municipal taxes and direct federal tax 2015 (Geneva); The question at issue is whether a company that sells a building as part of a sale and leaseback transaction can form a provision that is permissible for tax purposes. In order to be tax-allowable, the provision must be justified by economic reasons and relate to facts that arose during the taxable period. In the present case, the taxpayer does not show that this provision is mandatory under Article 960e(2) CO. The taxpayer's argument that this provision is in accordance with SWISS GAAP FER 13, which deals with leasing transactions, is of no use. The individual financial statements according to the Swiss Code of Obligations and not financial statements according to an accounting standard are decisive for the recognition for tax purposes. Dismissal of the taxpayer's appeal.
Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.
