Overview of tax law decisions by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published between May 25 and May 31, 2026:
- Judgment of April 23, 2026 (9C_503/2024) – scheduled for publication: The issue at hand is whether the lower court violated federal law by denying the deduction of input tax claimed by A. AG for the tax periods 2018–2020. First, the question arises as to whether A. AG is subject to value-added tax, with the focus on the issue of entrepreneurial activity. The parties dispute the interpretation of Art. 29(3) of the Value-Added Tax Act (MWSTG) as well as the invocation of the protection of legitimate expectations under Art. 69 MWSTG. According to the findings of the lower court, A. AG cannot substantiate the provision of such consulting services. A. AG is correct insofar as an activity aimed at the sustained generation of income from services is sufficient. However, the lower court cannot be accused of arbitrariness in finding that the submission of the invoice dated December 1, 2021, does not prove that an activity aimed at the sustainable generation of income from services existed during the tax periods 2018–2020. With regard to shareholdings, the lower court—contrary to the view of the FTA—concluded that the 10 percent threshold set forth in Art. 29(3) of the VAT Act is not an absolute figure. An interpretation of this provision also justifies the conclusion that, in the case of a shareholding of less than 10 percent, it remains to be proven that the shareholding confers a decisive influence. With regard to the two shareholdings held by A. AG, however, the lower court then found that the company had failed to prove that it exercised a decisive influence in these cases. The Federal Supreme Court concluded that A. AG could not derive anything in its favor from Art. 69 of the VAT Act, as the tax liability itself was not the subject of the information provided by the FTA. Dismissal of the appeal by A. AG.
Non-occurrence:
Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.
