Overview of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court’s tax law decisions published between August 17 and 23, 2026:
- Judgment of August 4, 2026 (9C_698/2024): Value-Added Tax 2021; Financial Brokerage; the taxpayer brokers mortgages and receives volume-based performance commissions from the financing partners in return, while the customers pay nothing. The FTA classified the activity as a taxable consulting service, whereas the Federal Administrative Court (FAC) classified it as a tax-exempt brokerage service under Art. 21(2)(19)(a) of the VAT Act (see our article of November 24, 2024, on the FAC’s judgment A-5117/2023 of November 1, 2024). The Federal Supreme Court (BGer) upheld this ruling: The taxpayer acts as an intermediary without a contractual relationship of her own, plays a causal role in the conclusion of the contract, and has no personal interest in the content of the brokered mortgage loan agreement, since the commission depends on the financing amount but not on its specific terms. Preparatory services such as a mortgage profile and affordability analysis are ancillary services and share the same tax treatment as the brokerage. The FTA’s appeal was dismissed.
- Judgment of July 30, 2026 (9C_267/2026): Federal Direct Tax and Cantonal Taxes for 2023 (Ticino); late objection; the tax authority served the assessment notice directly on the taxpayer rather than her representative, despite a valid power of attorney. Although the Federal Supreme Court deemed the service of process defective, it nevertheless considered the objection to be late: In good faith, the taxpayer should have inquired with her representative or the tax authority about the assessment no later than upon receipt and payment of the final bill. Restoration of the deadline was ruled out due to the lack of grounds for such restoration. The taxpayer’s appeal was dismissed.
Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.
