Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court published in the week of 5 - 11 April 2021.

  • Judgment of 29 March 2021 (A-2727/2019): VAT (Q1/2011-Q4/2015); The burden of proof that the place of supply of services is abroad (namely in the case of offshore companies) lies with the taxable person, including law firms subject to professional secrecy. The taxpayer law firm did not provide this evidence. Dismissal of the taxpayer's appeal.
  • Ruling of 17 March 2021 (A-5695/2019): VAT (2017); Services within the same community; In the present case, the VAT qualification of an office and asset management service provided in 2017 to the pension fund of the canton by an independent institution under cantonal public law was disputed. The taxable entity was of the opinion that the aforementioned services were services within the same community, which were exempt from tax. The services listed in Art. 21 para. 2 VAT Act (in the version applicable until the end of 2017), which also include services within the same community, are in principle covered by the scope of application of VAT due to the existence of a service relationship, but are exempt from VAT. The Federal Administrative Court concludes that the office and asset management services provided by the complainant in respect of the 2017 tax period are to be classified as services within the same community and are not taxable. Appeal upheld.
  • Judgment of 25 March 2021 (A-1444/2018): Jurisdiction for direct federal tax 2005-2012 (Geneva, Zug); The taxpayer was assessed for years with her main tax domicile in Zug and special tax domicile in Geneva before she filed a voluntary declaration in Geneva according to which her main tax domicile would have been Geneva. It was disputed whether the Canton of Zug had to annul the assessments it had already made for direct federal tax. The Federal Administrative Court ruled in the affirmative. In the present case, the taxpayer had not forfeited the right to have the cantonal jurisdiction determined in accordance with Art. 108 of the Federal Tax Act and to have the intercantonal double taxation remedied.

Decisions in the area of administrative assistance / non-admission:

Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.

Tax topics covered in this post:
Value Added Tax (VAT)