Decisions of the Swiss Federal Court (CW 50 - 2018 )

Overview of the tax rulings of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published in the week of December 10 - 16, 2018.

Judgment of 15 November 2018 (2C_873/2017): State and municipal tax 2007 (Aarau and Zug); a current double taxation of the income from the complainant's gainful employment was to be assessed before the Federal Supreme Court In its investigation of the facts and assessment of the evidence, the lower court came to the conclusion that the complainant was employed in the relevant tax period of 2007, which is why his income from employment, as already determined by the Federal Supreme Court, must be allocated in full to the Canton of Aargau. After review by the Federal Court, this assessment proves to be in conformity with federal law (see E. 3). None of the objections raised by the complainants are convincing (see E. 4). The taxpayers' appeal against the canton of Aargau is dismissed. The taxpayers' complaint against the canton of Zug is upheld. The Canton of Zug is instructed to revoke the tax assessment of the complainants for the tax year 2007 and to refund the cantonal and communal taxes already received.

Judgment of 29 November 2018 (2C_783/2018): Direct Federal Tax and State and Municipal Tax 2012 (Zurich); the only grounds for challenging an assessment decision issued on the basis of dutiful discretion are that the assessment is manifestly incorrect (Art. 132 para. 3 sentence 1). The burden of proof is reversed in the proceedings (expressly in Art. 183 para. 1bis DBG). The complainants were not able to provide this proof of incorrectness with its increased requirements before the lower instances. The taxpayer should have explained in the complaint to the Administrative Court that and why the Tax Appeal Court had assumed, contrary to federal law, that the Cantonal Tax Office of Zurich should not have taken up the objection. The taxpayer neglects this aspect, especially since their statements before all instances are exclusively concerned with material questions. The failure to intervene at first instance is therefore not objectionable. The taxpayers' complaint is dismissed.

Judgment of 29 November 2018 (2C_334/2018): Direct federal tax and cantonal and communal tax 2014 (Geneva); contesting an assessment at dutiful discretion on the grounds of obvious incorrectness. The complainant is not able to prove such a manifest error by submitting to the court a document showing that his entitlement to an unemployment pension ended in mid-year. Rejection of his complaint.

Non-occurrence decisions / inadmissible complaints: