Overview of tax rulings by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published between January 26 and February 1, 2026:
- Judgment of December 22, 2025 (9C_271/2025) – scheduled for publication:Real estate gains tax 2022 (St. Gallen); The dispute concerned whether, in the case of a mixed gift of real estate, the tax deferral was rightly granted only to the extent of the gratuitous portion and the portion exceeding the investment costs was taxed immediately. The dispute concerned the interpretation of Art. 12 para. 3 lit. a StHG. The Federal Supreme Court confirmed the "all or nothing" principle: a partial tax deferral for gifts cannot be inferred from the law, namely from its wording and systematics; historical and teleological considerations support this understanding. The St. Gallen practice of only granting a partial deferral is therefore contrary to federal law. The taxpayer's appeal was upheld.
- Judgment of December 11, 2025 (9C_270/2025): VOC incentive tax 2016; the lower court correctly ruled that, due to the lack of declaration and lack of recording in the VOC balance sheet, there was tax evasion and that the obligation to pay retrospectively pursuant to Art. 12 VStrR applies. Dismissal of the appeal by the party liable for the tax.
- Judgment of December 23, 2025 (9C_538/2025): Direct federal tax and state and municipal taxes 2020 (Lucerne); taxpayers residing in the canton of Lucerne claimed a loss from self-employment for 2020; the husband ran, among other things, a sole proprietorship domiciled in the canton of Zug. The Lucerne tax administration made various offsets against the declared loss. The Federal Supreme Court confirmed the jurisdiction of the canton of residence for the collection of direct federal tax and the conformity of the Lucerne assessment procedure with federal law. There is no entitlement for the canton of Lucerne to adopt the tax factors determined by the canton of Zug (for cantonal and municipal taxes). Nor is there any inadmissible intercantonal double taxation in the area of state and municipal taxes. Dismissal of the taxpayer's appeal.
- Judgment of December 18, 2025 (9C_349/2025): Direct federal tax and state and municipal taxes for 2019 (Zurich); the dispute concerned the intercantonal allocation of tax on income from self-employment where the claimed place of business was in the canton of Schwyz. The Federal Supreme Court confirmed that a business office center with minimal infrastructure does not constitute a special tax domicile outside the canton if the business activities are predominantly carried out at the place of residence. Among other things, the decisive factor was that the taxpayer was only present at the alleged place of business 24–30 times per year, had no fixed workplace or customer traffic there, and carried out the administrative work primarily at his private residence in Zurich. Previous recognition of the place of business cannot justify protection of legitimate expectations or prevent a re-examination for later tax periods. Dismissal of the taxpayer's appeal.
- Judgment of December 22, 2025 (9C_102/2025): Emergency service replacement levy 2020 (St. Gallen); the obligation to pay the emergency service levy violates the principle of legality under tax law (Art. 127 para. 1 of the Federal Constitution) due to the lack of a sufficient formal legal basis, as the group of persons liable to pay the levy is not sufficiently defined by law; a regulation by professional regulations cannot remedy this deficiency. Dismissal of the appeal by the cantonal medical association.
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Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.
