Facts
Siblings A., B. and C. founded a simple partnership "Company D." in 1988, into which they contributed their real estate properties. After the death of B. in 1998, A. and C. continued the company. In 2012, A. sold her share to C. The tax authorities reported the capital gain as income from self-employment, whereupon the compensation fund demanded contributions of around 1.4 million Swiss francs.
A. filed a complaint against the contribution demand and claimed that the properties had been treated as private assets until 1995 and were only transferred to business assets in 2000 at the request of the tax authorities, without her having engaged in self-employment.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the complaint. It stated that for the tax classification of the properties as business assets, self-employment had been necessary. The classification made by the tax authorities had also had tax consequences, such as in the form of depreciation. Therefore, the tax report was generally binding for the compensation fund, unless there were serious doubts about its correctness.
The Federal Supreme…