Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published in the weeks from 13 July - 26 July 2020.

  • Judgement of 24 June 2020 (2F_3/2020): Appeal against the judgement of BGer 2C_761/2019 concerning the substitute levy for car parks and playgrounds (see our contribution of 23 February 2020); rejection of the application of the City of Fribourg.
  • Sentence of 15. June 2020 (2C_142/2020): State and municipal taxes 2012 (Zurich); The liability of spouses in the Canton of Zurich is in dispute in the present case; Under cantonal law, divorce does not lead to a retroactive cancellation of joint and several liability; However, the retroactive effect occurs in the event of insolvency of one of the spouses, provided that an application has been made as in the present case; However, the appellant does not fulfil his qualified obligations to give notice of defects and to state reasons in order to demonstrate that insolvency exists; dismissal of the appeal.
  • Judgement of 8 June 2019 (2C_806/2019): Direct federal tax and state and municipal taxes in 2016 (Valais); Place of assessment; The couple had managed a five-star hotel in Valais from 2014 to 2018; In their spare time, they regularly returned to Ticino, where they had a 4th class education.The taxpayers have no family ties in Ticino, nor do they have any deep social ties; Ownership of residential property does not automatically imply that the relationship with this place is greater than with the other place; Approval of the tax administration's complaint.
  • Judgment of 2 July 2020 (2C_56/2020): Waste disposal fee; The cantonal fee for landowners is neither contrary to the principle of equality nor arbitrary; dismissal of the appeal.
  • Judgment of 30 June 2020 (2C_996/2019): VAT 2010-2014 (deduction of input tax); the amount of the deduction of input tax in connection with financial services is in dispute; it is questionable whether commercial transactions excluded from the scope of application of VAT within the meaning of Article 21(2)(19) of the VAT Act were carried out; the services provided by the VAT group originate from two different contractual relationships: In the first contractual relationship, the aim was to establish relations with interested clients, and in the second contractual relationship, business mediation services were offered with a view to concluding OTC derivative contracts; mediation is understood to be the activity which is suitable, from the point of view of adequate causality, to bring about the conclusion of a contract; it is also referred to as mediation if the mediator does not know the exact content of the future contract; rejection of the complaint.
  • Judgment of 8 June 2020 (2C_463/2019): Value added tax 2014 (deadline); In procedures with A-Post-Plus dispatch, the period for appeal begins to run when the item is placed in the recipient's P.O. box or letterbox; The disputed ruling remained in the post office building solely because the legal representative had waived Saturday delivery; The deadline could therefore begin on Sunday; Dismissal of the appeal.
  • Judgment of 18 June 2020 (2C_152/2020): Direct federal tax and state and municipal taxes 2016 (Zurich); A. registered in Winterthur in August 2009 (according to unknown) and on 1 March 2013 he registered in Uster; according to information from the tax office, A. had already rented the apartment from 1 December 2009, which is why tax return forms for 2011 and 2012 were sent to him; The 2011 tax return was submitted to A. with a taxable income and assets of 0; Despite being requested to do so, A. did not submit any salary statements, although the tax office was aware of a gainful activity; The taxpayer is not entitled to a tax domicile decision in the present case; In particular, the duty to state reasons is fulfilled in the present case even in the case of discretionary assessments, provided that the deviations from the (incomplete) tax return are disclosed; Rejection of the complaint.
  • Judgment of 19. June 2020 (2C_495/2019): Direct Federal Tax and State and Municipal Taxes 2012 (Zurich); Delimitation of self-employment - hobby; Self-employment requires a profit-making nature; In the present case, it is a matter of a permanent loss operation with high personnel expenses, which, however, is more or less within the normal range according to business management ratios; Therefore, the suitability for profit cannot be disputed; In the present case, the taxpayer also financed the establishment and operation from his own resources; dismissal of the appeal and referral to the previous instance for a new assessment.
  • Verdict of 07. July 2020 (2C_729/2019): Direct Federal Tax and State and Municipal Taxes 2010 (Zurich); It is questionable whether the loss carryforward of the company operating in France can be claimed; The company is a non-commercial real estate company; The taxpayer claims that this company is a permanent establishment located abroad, which must be rejected as the company has its own legal personality; On the other hand, the question of whether there is a permanent establishment located abroad can be left open, since in the absence of accounting documents it cannot be shown to what extent the losses could have been taken into account before the seven years; dismissal of the complaint.
  • Judgment of 17 June 2020 (2C_107/2020): Withholding tax (due 2015) (Zurich); the dispute is whether the taxpayer has forfeited its right to a refund of the withholding tax; the taxpayer did not submit its tax return for 2015 and was therefore assessed on a discretionary basis; the claim for a refund of the withholding tax was set at CHF 0 The lower court held that the complainant, in full knowledge of the possible consequences and despite an unsuccessful official reminder, did not submit a tax return for the period 2015. On the basis of the facts considered by the lower instance, it is to be assumed that the relevant income and assets were not declared, at least not intentionally; dismissal of the appeal.

Inadmissible complaints / decisions not to intervene / administrative assistance:

Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.

Tax topics covered in this post:
Income Tax
Other Taxes
Wealth Tax
Value Added Tax (VAT)
International Tax