Overview of the tax rulings of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published between February 26 and March 3, 2024:
- Judgmentof January 22, 2024 (9C_613/2023): Direct federal tax 2019; commercial real estate trader; In this case, the taxpayer's qualification as a commercial real estate trader was in dispute, with the Federal Supreme Court essentially relying on the assessment criteria developed in its long-standing case law (systematic approach, frequency of transactions, etc.). In addition, it was of particular importance in this case that the taxpayer financed the acquisition of the property entirely with borrowed funds. As he only used third-party funds, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that this could not be a simple management of private assets. This was not affected by the fact that the taxpayer acquired the property at a lower price. Dismissal of the taxpayer's appeal.
- Judgment of January 31, 2024 (9C_758/2023): Inheritance tax 2019 (Basel-Stadt); In this case, the default interest was rightly levied and the tax administration did not violate good faith. Dismissal of the taxpayer's appeal.
- Judgment of February 6, 2024 (9C_218/2023): Direct federal tax and cantonal and communal taxes 2018 (Valais); The dispute is whether the lower instance was right to reject the possibility of the taxpayer A. to deduct lump-sum maintenance costs for the garage boxes rented by him to third parties. Art. 32 para. 4 DBG stipulates that the lump-sum deduction is not available for properties held as private assets that are used by third parties primarily for business purposes. As the cantonal court started from the false premise that the garage boxes belonging to the taxpayer cannot be subject to a lump-sum deduction under any circumstances, it did not make any findings on the type of use (private or commercial) of the garage boxes. Partial approval of the taxpayer's appeal and referral of the case back to the cantonal court.
- Judgment of February 13, 2024 ( 9C_347/2023): Military service tax; replacement year 2019: The Federal Supreme Court has already dealt with the application of the new law to subsequent replacement years (in casu the replacement year 2019) in judgment 9C_648/2022 of January 9, 2024. It confirmed the case law according to which the military service levy does not have the characteristics of a permanent matter. Against this background, it is irrelevant that the complainant was never liable to pay compensation under the old law due to his age of 32 when he was naturalized. The decisive factor is whether he meets the requirements for the obligation to pay compensation under the law applicable for the replacement year 2019. Dismissal of the appeal of the taxpayer.
- Judgment of February 14, 2024 (9C_197/2023; 9C_262/2023 and 9C_278/2023): Import duties; subsequent collection; The Swiss principal, i.e. the person on whose account the goods were imported into Switzerland, is the customs debtor and is (jointly and severally) liable for the import duties and obliged to pay them subsequently if the exporter has exported the goods in violation of customs regulations. By accepting imported goods that have not been cleared through customs, the Swiss client has gained an unlawful advantage due to an objective violation of administrative legislation, as the duties have not been paid. Even the absence of fault on the part of the Swiss client does not alter its joint and several liability. Dismissal of the taxpayer's appeals.
Non-entry decisions:
Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.
