Decisions of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court (CW 4 - 2021 )

Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court published in the week of 25 - 31 January 2021.

Judgment of 14 January 2021 (A-1835/2019) and Judgment of 14 January 2021 (A-2053/2019): post-claim recovery of customs duties; the consignee of a good on whose behalf the good was imported and ordered is jointly and severally liable for the import tax and customs duties not delivered by the importer even if no criminal proceedings have been opened; dismissal of the complaint of the duty payers.
Judgment of 14 January 2021 (A-5551/2019): VAT (2016); Tax liability; In view of the failure to meet the requirement of a daily cash book, the FTA was authorised and obliged to make a discretionary assessment. The empirical value in the amount of CHF 2.40 per kilometre driven for business purposes for a self-employed taxi operator cannot be objected to and has already been confirmed in this amount by case law; dismissal of the taxpayer's appeal.
Judgment of 20 January 2021 (A-4748/2019): Agricultural management traffic; Since the taxpayer has the work done primarily by its partners residing in Germany as well as by contractors who neither start from nor use the farm building, it cannot benefit from agricultural management traffic. In any case, the taxpayer's building cannot be considered a farm building because it lacks adequate space and agricultural equipment. Last but not least, the sole purpose of the establishment of this taxable company is that the two partners residing in Germany do not have to pay customs duties for the import of their agricultural products from Germany to Switzerland, which is why a circumvention of customs duties and thus an abuse of rights must be assumed. As a result of the abuse of rights, the natural persons are liable; the complaint of the taxpayers is dismissed.

Decisions in the field of administrative assistance: