Overview of tax rulings by the Swiss Federal Administrative Court published between February 9 and 15, 2026:
- Judgment of January 22, 2026 (A-6633/2024): VAT Q4_2020; Origin of the tax claim; Tax liability arising from the sale of real estate with a suspensive condition; In the case of settlement based on agreed fees, the tax arises when the invoice is issued. The publicly notarized purchase agreement with VAT clearly stated qualifies as an invoice in this case, even if the execution is subject to a condition precedent (e.g., due to waiting for the deadline to exercise a right of first refusal). Appeal dismissed.
- Judgment of October 27, 2025 (A-2821/2024): VAT (2018–2022); Place of performance for brokerage commissions paid to an "apporteur"; services are deemed to have been provided to the Swiss headquarters of the banks (invoice address and contractual situation are decisive), not to their foreign branches; VAT is payable. Appeal dismissed.
- Judgment of January 30, 2026 (A-4374/2025): VAT 2022; sovereign activity; In the present case, the taxpayer operated an information system on behalf of the federal government. Due to a revision of the law, it now collected the fees paid by users itself instead of forwarding them to the competent federal office. The taxpayer argued that this meant that its activity had become sovereign in nature and that the fees collected were not taxable as non-remuneration within the meaning of Art. 18 para. 2 lit. l VAT Act. However, the Federal Administrative Court denied that the activity was sovereign in nature. The authority to make decisions regarding users remains unchanged with the federal office. Since the power to make decisions is a central feature of the performance of sovereign tasks, the taxpayer's activity cannot be classified as sovereign. A taxable service relationship continues to exist between the federal office and the taxpayer with regard to the operation of the information system. The usage fees charged by the taxpayer are considered non-remuneration, as they are collected on behalf of the Federal Office. However, the remuneration for the taxpayer's actual service—the operation of the information system—results from the offsetting of the retained fees and is subject to VAT at the standard rate. Dismissal of the taxpayer's appeal.
- Judgment of February 3, 2026 (A-6987/2025): Direct federal tax 2016; Interim decision concerning suspension of proceedings to determine the place of assessment in accordance with Art. 108 DBG; The FTA may not suspend the proceedings until the cantonal proceedings on state and municipal taxes have become final. Appeal upheld.
- Judgment of January 26, 2026 (A-1577/2025): A (potentially) invalid dividend resolution does not prevent the withholding tax claim from arising, even if it is revoked, if the parties directly affected (voting shareholders) acted in bad faith. Appeal dismissed.
Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.
