Admissibility of transmitting information in the context of international administrative assistance in tax matters

Facts

The Federal Tax Administration (FTA) received a request for administrative assistance from India concerning [A.] , which was based on the Agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the Republic of India for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income (DTA CH-IN) and the Protocol of 30 August 2010. The request concerned the income and corporate taxes of [A.] for the tax periods from 1 April 2004 to 31 December 2011 and referred to a bank account at Bank [E.] in [U.] .

The FTA clarified and expanded the request and requested administrative assistance without prior notification of [A.] . After the FTA initially rejected the request, India renewed the request with reference to a Federal Court judgment. The FTA then requested the holder of the information to provide information related to the bank account specified in the request and instructed them to inform [A.] and other account holders about the administrative assistance procedure.

The Federal Administrative Court partially upheld the appeal by [A.] and others and amended the FTA's final decisions. The FTA appealed to the Federal Court and requested that its appeal be upheld and that item 1 of the disposition of the judgment of 20 August 2020 be revoked to the extent of the ordered amendment.

Considerations

The Federal Court examined its jurisdiction and the other prerequisites for admission of the appeal ex officio and with free consideration. It found that the FTA was entitled to file the appeal and that the appeal had been filed in a timely and proper manner.

The Federal Court dealt with the question of whether the transmission of the "Client Profile" was admissible. It found that the "Client Profile" belonged to the bank account opening documents and was likely to be relevant to clarify the tax situation of the appellant 1. The Federal Court decided that the "Client Profile" was to be transmitted with the blackened passages.

The Federal Court also dealt with the question of whether the identity of an authorized third party was likely to be relevant. It found that the identity of an authorized person may be relevant for clarifying the tax situation as they have disposal power over the bank account. The Federal Court decided that the transmission of the passport copy and the information about [H.] was admissible.

The Federal Court also dealt with the question of whether the identity of former and indirect co-shareholders was…