Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published in the week of 5 - 11 July 2021....
- Judgments of 21 June 2021(2C_301/2021; 2C_302/2021): Import duties; additional demand order; The dispute is whether A. GmbH and C. AG obtained duty-free importation in the period from 2013 to 2018 on the basis of forged invoices and incorrect declarations of origin contained therein, as well as by splitting the consignments intended for a single recipient among various recipients, thereby evading customs duties and VAT. Due to the circumstances (distribution of the consignments to three, partly non-existent consignees, same wording and partly same formatting of invoices of allegedly different exporters), the Customs Directorate had justified doubts about the authenticity of the invoice declarations and therefore had them examined by the competent Mexican and German authorities. All of the imports in dispute were arranged by B., a managing director with sole signing authority. The arguments put forward by A. GmbH and B. in their complaints are not convincing. Dismissal of the complaint of the taxpayers (see also our article of 7 March 2021).
- Judgment of 22 June 2021 (2G_2/2021): Zurich state and municipal back taxes and direct federal taxes 2005 - 2013; the husband, who has limited tax liability in Switzerland, filed a request for clarification or correction of the judgment of 18 September 2018 (2C_799/2017, 2C_800/2017 ) (see our article of 7 October 2018). The Federal Supreme Court had annulled the assessment decisions against the wife for lack of joint and several liability, at the same time stating that this does not mean the annulment of all incorrect decisions and consequently the proceedings against the husband can be continued in an orderly manner. Thus, there are no ambiguities/contradictions/ambiguities; the request for clarification or correction is rejected.
- Ruling of 22 June 2021 (2C_987/2020): Staats- und Gemeindesteuern und direkte Bundessteuer 2013 (Nidwalden); Geschäftsmässig begründeter Aufwand; The lower court correctly found that the evidence that the booked cost of goods concerned a payment forwarding from a fiduciary relationship, in which the taxpayer was only required to retain a commission, was not provided in the present case and that the payment therefore did not constitute a business-related expense. If the trust relationship is intended to conceal the origin of the trust property, the taxpayer must bear any tax disadvantages. Dismissal of the taxpayer's appeal.
Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.
