Overview of the tax law decisions of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court published in the week of 12 - 18 February 2018.
- Judgment of 24 January 2018 (A-4091/2016): Withholding tax (payment in kind); problem of payment in kind due to a loan granted by a Swiss company to a Russian company; the loan was written off when it was clear that it could no longer be repaid; the burden of proof regarding the existence of payment in kind lies with the tax authorities; in the present case, it could not be proven that the arm's length principle was not observed (granting of loans is generally covered by the company's purpose, existence of the Russian company's creditworthiness, no concerns regarding the market environment in Russia or the Russian Federation); the tax authorities were not able to prove that the loan was not paid back. the stability of the economy, interest payments were properly accounted for, etc.); the evidence that there was a mismatch between the service and the consideration and that the Russian company was a related party could not be conclusively established either; the complaint is upheld.
- Judgment of 19 December 2017 (A-3822/2016): Withholding tax; existence of a payment in kind affirmed (cf. our contribution of 7 January 2018); the decision was appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
- Judgment of 3 May 2017 (A-362/2017): Value Added Tax (VAT); VAT 2010-2014; appeal against the decision of the FTA cannot be granted (see our contribution of 25 June 2017); appeal dismissed; in its ruling of 1 February 2018 (2C_543/2017), the Federal Supreme Court confirmed the decision of the Federal Administrative Court (see our contribution of 18 February 2018).
- Decisions of the Federal Administrative Court in the area of administrative assistance:
- Judgment of 29 January 2018 (A-4434/2016): Administrative assistance (DTA Switzerland - France); dismissal of the appeal.
Decisions are listed chronologically by publication date.
