Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published in the week from 1 - 7 June 2020.
- Sentence of 18. May 2020 (2C_97/2020): Customs law (subsequent recovery); The legal dispute concerns the subsequent recovery of a sum of money because the person concerned had not provided sufficient evidence that the rental vehicle registered in Germany had been re-exported from Switzerland; goods brought into or out of the customs territory for temporary importation must be declared for the temporary importation procedure using a form; since this form was not completed within the time limit, the customs authorities assumed that the vehicle was in free circulation within the country after the expiry of the time limit, and therefore the customs authorities required payment of import duties, which was admissible; dismissal of the taxpayer's complaint
- Judgment of 25 May 2020 (2C_151/2020): Geneva professional tax (taxe professionnelle) 2010-2017, It is not arbitrary to take account of policyholders' savings premiums in the company's turnover for the purposes of calculating professional tax; dismissal of the taxpayers' complaint.
- Judgment of 25 May 2020 (2C_21/2020): Geneva professional tax (taxe professionnelle) 2003-2009, It is not arbitrary that cantonal tax procedural law should be applied to municipal business tax, thus missing the deadline for filing an appeal in the present case; dismissal of the taxpayers' appeal.
- Judgment of 27 April 2020 (2C_217/2019): Order for additional claims/import of works of art (statute of limitations); appeal by the Federal Customs Administration against the decision of the BVGer of 23 January 2019 (A-714/2018); cf. our detailed article of 3. February 2019; The statute of limitations provisions of the VStR apply in addition to the statute of limitations if the statute of limitations according to the aMWSTG has not yet occurred; In the present proceedings, neither the relative nor the absolute statute of limitations has occurred; Partial approval of the appeal of the customs administration.
- Judgment of 27 April 2020 (2C_219/2019): additional claim order / import of works of art; appeal against the decision of the SNB of 23 January 2019 (A-714/2018); cf. our detailed article of 3 February 2019 on this subject; a large number of works of art were imported into Switzerland VAT-free via Gallery B. in the relocation procedure and were subsequently exhibited in the complainant's properties or in Hotel C. The relocation procedure requires that the applying licence holder is also the legal importer of the imported objects, i.e. that it can dispose of the objects economically immediately after importation. This was not the case in the present case. Dismissal of the appeal of the person liable to pay the tax.
Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.
