Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court published in the week from 9 to 15 December 2019.
- Judgment of 23 August 2019 (A-458/2017): Withholding tax; cash value of services provided in tax periods 2006, 2007, 2008; tax evasion; infringement of the right to be heard; infringement of procedural rights; limitation of withholding tax (see our contribution of 20 October 2019). Decision confirmed by the Federal Supreme Court with decision of 6 November 2019 (2C_867/2018); cf. our contribution of 1 December 2019.
- Judgment of 29 October 2019 (A-2442/2019): Appeal of 16/29 May 2019 against the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court of 24 April 2019 (A-1418/2018); the Federal Supreme Court did not intervene in the appeal by decision of 11 November 2019 (2C_925/2019); see our contribution of 1 December 2019.
- Judgment of 29 October 2019 (A-6828/2017): Emissions levy; decision partially confirmed by the Federal Supreme Court with decision of 12 November 2019
(2C_1071/2018); cf. our contribution of 8 December 2019. - Judgment of 24 October 2019 (A-2242/2018): Value added tax (VAT); decision appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
- Judgment of 28 October 2019 (A-355/2018): Value added tax (VAT); decision appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
- Judgment of 5 December 2019 (A-1378/2019): Business levy for radio and television (RTVA); the complaint is partially approved in the sense of the considerations insofar as it is established that the tariff gradation laid down in Art. 67b para. 2 RTVA violates the constitutional principle of equality of rights in the present case of application. The remainder of the appeal is dismissed. As a result of this decision, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) issued a decision on 13 December 2009. On 1 December 2019, the Federal Council published a communication in which it stated that, in accordance with the present decision, the number of only six tariff levels provided for in the Ordinance on Radio and Television for the determination of the corporate levy is to be assessed as unconstitutional, but that, despite its unconstitutionality, no repayment or reduction of the corporate levy is to be made and that the current "regulation is to continue to apply until a new levy is issued" is to be "applied in order to ensure legal certainty and the ongoing financing of the constitutional performance mandate of radio and television". The FTA also states in its communication that it will continue to collect the corporate levy for radio and TV until further notice. The judgment of the Federal Administrative Court should be carefully analysed and a decision taken as to whether the judgment should be continued. Further information can be found in the FTA Communication of 13 December 2019.
Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.
