Facts
[A. GmbH] (the Taxpayer) had its registered office in the Canton of Zug and was active in the field of insurance brokerage during the tax periods 2012 to 2015. The Tax Administration of the Canton of Zug (the Assessment Authority) set the cantonal and municipal taxes of the Canton of Zug as well as the direct federal tax in the tax assessment decisions of November 3, 2017. In doing so, it objected to the amount of the lump-sum expenses paid by the Taxpayer and offset a portion of them.
The Taxpayer filed an objection and an appeal against this, which were, however, unsuccessful. The Administrative Court of the Canton of Zug approved the offsetting of the lump-sum expenses to the extent of 50 percent, as the Taxpayer had not provided detailed evidence of the business justification of the expenses.
The Taxpayer appealed against this decision to the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that the lump-sum expenses paid to the distant employees can generally be considered as business-justified. The offsetting to the extent of 50 percent by the Assessment Authority was therefore unjustified in this respect.
However, with regard to the lump-sum expenses for the sole…