Decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (CW 4 - 2022)

Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published between 24 - 30 January 2022.

Ruling of 22 December 2021 (2C_61/2021): State and municipal taxes (Basel-Stadt) and direct federal tax 2017; The complainant declared income subject to withholding tax in his subsequently filed tax return and filed an application for a refund of the withholding tax. Like the tax administration and the lower instance in their respective decisions, the lower instance did not substantively deal with this application. The complainant sees this as a denial of justice. The Federal Supreme Court came to the conclusion that the objection would only have had to be accepted as an exception if the presentation of the facts and the evidence submitted had been suitable to make the assessment of the assessment authority appear to be manifestly incorrect overall, which was not the case in casu. The dismissal of the complainant's objection was lawful. Dismissal of the appeal.
Judgment of 23 December 2021 (2C_372/2021): Import duties 2012-2017; The basis on which the automobile tax and the import tax are assessed when an importer first imports an automobile under the temporary admission procedure pursuant to Art. 9 ZG and then releases it for free circulation (definitive import) is in dispute. The lower court is of the opinion that the respective purchase price agreed with the domestic customer is to be taken into account. The taxable company A. AG (complainant) took the view that the purchase price paid to its foreign suppliers was decisive. The circumstances at the time of the release of the automobiles for free circulation are decisive. The purchase contract with the foreign supplier is no longer relevant if this purchase contract has already been fulfilled by the delivery to the complainant and the complainant has already concluded a purchase contract with a domestic customer for the car at the time of the application for release for free circulation. In such a case, the importation only serves to fulfil the contract of sale between the complainant and its customer. It is therefore not objectionable to take into account the prices that the complainant has agreed with its customers. Dismissal of the complaint Taxpayer.
Judgement 2C_299/2021 of 17 December 2021: Issue duty; refund; confirmation of the judgement of the lower court, according to which the issue duty is payable over the term of 10 years and that there is no legal basis for the refund of the issue duty demanded by the appellant due to the early termination of the bond. Dismissal of the appeal of the taxpayers.
Judgment of 20 December 2021 (2C_1049/2020): State and communal taxes (Canton Schwyz) and direct federal tax 2012: The legal heirs who are subsequently summoned to the proceedings and who, like the appellants in this case, have party status and to whom the ordinary challenge was open, should not be enabled subsequent access to the proceedings by means of summoning (if the time limit for appeal has expired). Dismissal of the appeal.

Non-occurrence: