Overview of the tax rulings of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published in the week of June 17 - 23, 2019.

  • Judgment of 16 May 2019 (2C_1034/2017): Waste management and disposal; annual basic fee 2013 (Vaud); charging a foundation with an annual basic waste tax; the levy is assessed on the basis of the volume of a property in Lausanne; in the complainant's opinion, the system for financing waste management and disposal does not comply with federal law and the municipality of Lausanne should be asked to review the system for financing waste management and disposal and to make it compliant with federal law. According to existing federal court case law, the land tax for waste management can be determined schematically, in particular according to the volume of a building. The Federal Supreme Court concludes that the basic waste tax demanded by the Foundation - despite the comparatively high volume of buildings - is in reasonable proportion to the services received by it. It follows that, although the levy in question appears relatively high, it does not infringe the principle of equivalence. The appellant's appeal is dismissed in so far as it is admissible.
  • Judgment of 27 May 2019 (2C_495/2017, 2C_512/2017): Direct federal, cantonal and communal taxes 2009, 2010 and 2011 (Valais); Services provided by a mixed-economy company operating in the public interest to related companies; Relationship of Art. 58 (1) and (3) DBG: If the tax authority wants to prove a hidden profit distribution in the case of so-called partner plants, it must do so using one of the transfer pricing methods mentioned in Art. 58 (3) DBG. The Tax Appeals Commission has used a cost plus 5% method that is generally permissible, but has arbitrarily supplemented it with a "corrective" that is foreign to the method. Without this arbitrary "corrective", the result is a transfer price that is far below the remuneration received by the taxpayer. Accordingly, no hidden profit distribution is apparent.
  • Judgment of 3 June 2019 (2C_241/2019): Direct federal and cantonal taxes 2009 (Ticino); tax liability based on personal affiliation; no limitation period; the appellant's appeal is dismissed.
  • Judgment of 3 June 2019 (2C_242/2019): Direct federal and cantonal taxes 2009 (Ticino); tax liability based on personal affiliation; no limitation period; the appellant's appeal is dismissed.

Decisions not to intervene / inadmissible appeals

  • Judgment of 22 May 2019 (1C_203/2019): Cantonal referendum of 19 May 2019 (Solothurn), implementation of the tax reform and AHV financing; voting information; the procedure is written off as a result of the withdrawal of the appeal.

Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.

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