Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court published in the week of 22 - 28 June 2020.
- Judgement of 9 June 2020 (A-1480/2019): Turnover tax; it was disputed whether X AG had acted as an intermediary in the takeover of the third-party company A Inc. by the group company B Inc. and consequently owed the turnover tax. The qualification as an intermediary is to be made according to the economic point of view. It is sufficient for someone to make a contribution to the success of the transaction which makes him appear to be part of the "transaction chain". It is irrelevant that X AG with its few employees is not in a position to mediate such a transaction. It is also irrelevant whether US law requires the involvement of the group parent company; the reasons "why" a person assumes the role of a mediator are irrelevant. In the present case, it is decisive that X AG had access to confidential documents and the drafting of the "Agreement and Plan of Merger" indicates an active role of X AG which goes beyond a mere position as guarantor. Dismissal of X AG's appeal.
- Judgment of 15 June 2020 (A-6474/2018): Value Added Tax (VAT); Teakwood investment (2013); In the present case, the Federal Administrative Court had to assess how the transactions described by the complainant as "tree sales" were to be qualified, namely whether they were not VAT-taxable supplies, but exempt transactions in the area of money and capital movements. After a thorough examination of the underlying contracts and contractual provisions, the Federal Administrative Court comes to the same conclusion as in Federal Administrative Court ruling A-545/2012 of 14 February 2013, which also concerns the complainant (but earlier tax periods), according to which the customers are not granted any economic power of disposal and thus no supply is made pursuant to Art. 3 letter d no. 1 VAT Act. The services which the complainant provides are exempt from tax and the corresponding input tax deduction (related to these services) is therefore excluded. Rejection of the appeal.
Decisions in the field of administrative assistance:
- Judgment of 10 June 2020 (A-2409/2019): Administrative assistance - Double Taxation Convention Switzerland - Russia (DTA CH-RU); the appeal is upheld in part and the case is referred back to the lower instance so that the latter either informs the (named) third parties in the documents to be transmitted of the procedure or blacks out the matter; the appeal is dismissed for the remainder.
Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.
