Overview of the tax rulings of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published in the week of September 6 - 12, 2021.

  • Judgment of 16. August 2021 (2C_768/2019): Proof of origin, tariff classification; In the present case, it had to be clarified whether the previous Swiss practice, according to which the classification notifications of the World Customs Council are to be qualified as (binding) international treaty law, is to be adhered to, or whether these classification notifications merely have an orientation function, whereby a customs tariff classification deviating from the relevant classification notifications of the World Customs Council would have to be considered in the present case under certain circumstances. Irrespective of the fact that the contents of the capsule consist of substances that would have to be classified under tariff heading 1515.90 per se, the classification proposed by the appellant under tariff heading 2106.90 ("other food preparations") is clearly more appropriate in such a view. The World Customs Council's classification notifications to the contrary do not take into account the specific mode of action of the products at issue; the complaint of the taxable persons is upheld.
  • Ruling of 24 August 2021 (2C_240/2021): Withholding tax 2015 (Basel-Stadt); Entitlement to a refund of withholding tax; The existence of a doctor's certificate concerning an obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome cannot by itself prove that the taxpayer had actually forgotten to record a dividend in the amount of CHF 900,000 in the tax return. The Tax Appeals Commission of the Canton of Basel-Stadt did not follow the Federal Supreme Court's instruction in its ruling of 16 August 2019 (2C_37/2019) and did not take any further investigative measures itself. Accordingly, based on the facts established by the lower court, it is still not possible to conclude that there was negligence or contingent intent. Appeal of the FTA upheld and referred back to the Tax Appeals Commission.
  • Judgment of 24 August 2021 (2C_599/2021): State and municipal taxes 2007 (St. Gallen); it was disputed whether the taxpayers had withdrawn an objection or not (unclear wording, later notification "not withdrawn at the moment"). In the present case, the appeal does not satisfy the qualified obligation to give notice of and to state reasons for the appeal and is obviously unfounded. Dismissal of the taxpayers' appeal.

Decisions in the area of administrative assistance / non-admission / requests for revision:

Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.

Tax topics covered in this post:
Other Taxes
Custom Duties
Withholding Tax
Income Tax