Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published during the week of 15 - 21 February 2021.

  • Judgment of 5 February 2021 (2C_398/2020): State and communal taxes 2006-2010 (Vaud); at issue is whether the Vaud assessments are open to revision after the Valais tax office issued new assessment decisions including intercantonal tax distinctions - based on the adjustments to circular 12 (insurance). The taxpayers are of the opinion that the grounds for revision arise from the new tax rulings. In the present case, the 90-day deadline has not been met, as the taxpayers wrongly assumed that this deadline would not expire until the Valais decisions had become final. The resulting double taxation cannot be eliminated by the Federal Supreme Court, as the Valais decisions were not even implicitly challenged before the Federal Supreme Court. Dismissal of the taxpayer's appeal.
  • Judgment of 19. January 2021 (2C_428/2020): State and municipal taxes 2007-2012 (Zurich); Intercantonal double taxation; The taxpayer was assessed by the Canton of Schwyz for the tax periods 2007-2012; The Canton of Zurich claimed the taxpayer's main tax domicile for the same tax periods; In the present case, the Canton of Zurich forfeited its right of taxation by waiting an unreasonably long time (almost four years) before asserting its claim to taxation; Although there were indications that this was the case, the question of whether the taxpayer's domicile for tax purposes was actually in Zurich therefore had to be disregarded; the taxpayer's appeal was upheld.

Non-entry decisions / administrative assistance:

Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.

Tax topics covered in this post:
Income Tax
Profit Tax
Wealth Tax
International Tax
Treaties