Overview of the tax rulings of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court published between December 16 - 22, 2024:
- Judgment of December 3, 2024 (A-2151/2024): VAT, discretionary assessment, tax succession (tax periods 2015-2018); the requirements for making a discretionary assessment are met and the assessment by the lower instance was carried out in accordance with its duties. As the taxpayer took over a business from two companies, there is a tax succession within the meaning of Art. 16 para. 2 MWSTG. Partial approval of the taxpayer's appeal with regard to the attribution of the loss certificates due to tax succession (inadmissible temporal extension of the subject matter of the dispute in the objection proceedings), otherwise dismissal.
- Judgment of December 6, 2024 (A-1250/2024): Withholding tax (forfeiture of the right to a refund); at issue was the refund of withholding tax on a dividend from November 2017 to a Swiss shareholder (legal entity) with a 10% stake in the taxpayer. The interpretation of Art. 20 para. 2 sentence 2 VStG shows that this provision is to be regarded as a specification of the delegation standard of Art. 20 para. 2 sentence 1 VStG. Accordingly, the Federal Council is also responsible for defining the requirements of the corresponding reporting procedure, including the existence of a group relationship. Consequently, it is not possible to derive a direct legal entitlement to the reporting procedure in the group relationship from Art. 20 para. 2 sentence 2 VStG without further ado, irrespective of the other requirements pursuant to the VStV. Only if the Federal Council had not regulated the reporting procedure in the group relationship in the VStV, or had not done so in accordance with the statutory provisions, would a direct legal claim based on Art. 20 para. 2 sentence 2 VStG come into question. The (rejected) application for application of the notification procedure does not constitute an application for reimbursement by the shareholder in due form and time. Accordingly, the FTA rightly refused the refund. Dismissal of the appeal.
Administrative Assistance:
Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.