Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court published in the week of 1 - 7 February 2021.
- Judgment of 25 January 2021 (A-3485/2020): Customs tariff; In the present case, the tariff classification for a product imported by the complainant had to be clarified. The complainant argued that the product in question was a chemical product which, due to its ingredients, was used as a coating (tariff heading 3824.9999) and thus served purposes other than paints or varnishes (tariff heading 3209.1000). The Federal Administrative Court concluded that paints within the meaning of the tariff need not serve any particular purpose. It was therefore irrelevant that the purpose of the product at issue was allegedly primarily fire protection and not colouring. Dismissal of the appeal.
- Federal Administrative Court ruling 1 December 2020 (A-1795/2017): refund of withholding tax; denial of tax avoidance in an old reserves case (see our detailed article of 10 January 2021); decision appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
Decisions in the field of administrative assistance:
- Judgment of 18 January 2021 (A-4167/2020, A-4169/2020): administrative assistance (DTA CH-ES); dismissal of the appeal, with the FTA having to add a note regarding the principle of speciality.
- Judgment of 21 December 2020 (A-1296/2020): administrative assistance (DTA CH-IT); appeal dismissed; (cf. our article of 17 January 2021 and the media release of the Federal Administrative Court); decision appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
- Judgment of December 15, 2020 (A-2013/2019 and A-2015/2019): Administrative assistance (DBA CH-FR); dismissal of appeal; (see our article of January 17, 2021); decision appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
