Decisions of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court (CW 38 - 2020 )

Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court published in the week of 14 - 20 September 2020

Judgement of 7 September 2020 (A-6249/2018): VAT; tax periods 2011-2014; reduction of the taxable income; The Federal Administrative Court had to examine whether the refunds made by the complainant qualified as reductions in income and thus a subsequent change in the VAT liability was appropriate. The evidence submitted by the complainant is not capable of substantiating a reduction in remuneration. Dismissal of the appeal.
Judgement of 8 April 2020 (A-6884/2018): Decision confirmed by BGer in its judgement of 23.07.2020 (2C_426/2020) (cf. our contribution of 13 September 2020); customs; proof of origin; the dispute was whether duty-free status under the Free Trade Agreement should be denied and customs and other import duties should be recovered if the customs authorities of the exporting state conclude in a review procedure that the conditions for duty-free preferential treatment are not met. Dismissal of the appeal by the Federal Administrative Court.
Judgment of 9 September 2020 (A-3318/2019): VAT 2013-2016; discretionary assessment; deduction of input tax; the taxpayer's complaint is partially upheld on the basis of the submission of individual proofs of payment of input tax, but dismissed for the rest
Judgment of 1 September 2020 (A-88/2020): Automatic exchange of information; assertion of a transmission error vs. assertion of incorrectly recorded data or misinterpretations at the financial institution; dismissal of the complaint of the person required to report.

Decisions in the field of administrative assistance:

Judgement of 1 September 2020 (A-2981/2019): Administrative assistance DTA Switzerland-India; the appeal is upheld in part (concerning blackening of certain names and reference to the principle of speciality), but dismissed for the rest.
Judgments of 26 August 2020 (A-5740/2019) / (A-5741/2019) / (A-5743/2019) / (A-5734/2019) / (A-5727/2019) / (A-5737/2019) / (A-5744/2019): Administrative assistance DTA Switzerland-Spain; the complaints are all dismissed.
Judgement of 20 August 2020 (A-3186/2019): Administrative assistance DTA Switzerland-India; the appeal is partially upheld; decision appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
Judgement of 31 August 2020 (A-3734/2017): Administrative assistance DTA Switzerland-India; the appeal is upheld on one point and dismissed for the rest.
Judgement of 15 November 2019 (A-506/2018): administrative assistance; double taxation agreement between Switzerland and Sweden; the appeal is partially upheld; decision reversed by the Federal Supreme Court (see our article of 13 September 2020).