Rejection of Exemption from Household Fee

Facts

The appellant [A.] received invoices from Serafe AG for the radio and television fee (household fee) for the periods from January 1 to July 31, 2019 (CHF 212.90) and from August 1, 2019 to July 31, 2020 (CHF 365). He requested an exemption from the fee from Serafe, which was rejected by decision of January 16, 2020. [A.] appealed against this to the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM), which also dismissed the appeal. Finally, [A.] appealed to the Federal Administrative Court, which also dismissed his appeal.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court confirms the rejection of the exemption from the household fee. The fee is to be qualified as a tax, as it is owed regardless of any specific benefit or causal contribution. The principle of taxation according to economic performance (Art. 127 para. 2 Federal Constitution) has only a limited scope for special or earmarked taxes such as the…