Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court published in the week from 4 to 10 November 2019.
- Judgment of 24 October 2019 (A-6966/2018): VAT (VAT); tax exemption (physiotherapy; 2011-2016). The MWSTG leaves the interpretation of health care to the cantons. In the canton of St. Gallen, the law expressly recognises physiotherapists as members of health professions under certain conditions (approval in the sense of a positive order, not pure tolerance). Consequently, the complainant was not subject to subjective taxation (even before receiving the cantonal operating licence in 2016). The complaint is approved.
- Judgment of 24 October 2019 (A-2242/2018): VAT; the complaint is dismissed.
- Judgment of 29 October 2019 (A-2442/2019): Appeal against the judgment of 24 April 2018 (A-1418/2018); value added tax (VAT); tax periods 2011 to 2015 (see also our contribution of 12 May 2019); the appeal for revision will not be acted upon.
- Judgment of 28 October 2018 (A-355/2018): VAT; the complaint is dismissed.
- Judgment of 28 October 2018 (A-959/2018): Value added tax (VAT); application for remission of tax; the cumulative conditions for remission of tax are not fulfilled in the present case; in particular, a final decision of the FTA cannot be altered thereby; complaint of taxable persons dismissed.
- Judgment of 16 October 2019 (A-600/2019): Radio and television reception fees (VAT). The complainant wanted to set off a refund claim against Billag AG on the basis of unduly charged value-added tax against an invoice for the period 01 March 2017 - 28 February 2018. Billag AG did not agree to this and filed a petition for debt collection for the outstanding invoice amount. According to the SNB, Billag AG could invoke Art. 125 para. 3 of the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR), which meant that consent was required to set off the complainant's claim. Dismissal of the complainant's complaint.
Decisions of the Federal Administrative Court in the area of administrative assistance:
- Judgment of 10 August 2019 (A-6829/2019): Administrative assistance DBA Switzerland - Germany (DBA CH-D); the complaint is dismissed; decision confirmed by BGer with judgment of 14 October 2019 (2C_726/2018); see also our contribution of 3 November 2019.
- Judgment of 29 October 2019 (A-223/2019): Administrative assistance DBA Switzerland - Canada (DBA CH-CA); the complaint is dismissed.
Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.
