Facts
The proceedings concern a request for mutual assistance from the Indian Ministry of Finance (MoF) to the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) based on the Double Taxation Agreement between Switzerland and India. The MoF requested information on accounts and assets of a specific person as well as companies in which this person is allegedly involved.
The FTA subsequently issued production orders to various Swiss banks and informed the affected persons and companies about the mutual assistance proceedings. [A.] Limited and [B.] Limited, which were involved as trustees of Entity [E.] , filed a complaint against the final decision of the FTA, by which it provided mutual assistance to the MoF.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court examined two legal issues that, in the view of the complainants, are of fundamental importance:
1. Under what conditions must a person with signing authority, who is neither a family member of the person concerned nor a lawyer or notary, be redacted based on Art. 4 para. 3 of the Mutual Assistance Act?
2. Is a request for mutual assistance from India based on illegally obtained data ("Falciani data") admissible?
The Federal Supreme Court concluded that the second question is of fundamental importance, as it had not been conclusively clarified in the judgment 2C_648/2017 of July 17, 2018. Regarding the first question, it assumed that it could also be of fundamental importance, but this ultimately remained open.
On the merits, the Federal Supreme Court…