Facts
Following a previous Federal Court judgment, the Grand Council of the Canton of Bern adopted a revision of the Tax Act on March 9, 2020, which, among other things, provided for a target median value of 70 percent of the market value for the determination of the official values of non-agricultural properties and hydropower plants. A. filed a complaint with the Federal Court and objected that this target value violated federal law.
The Federal Court upheld the complaint and annulled the contested provision. It concluded that a target median value of 70 percent of the market value is incompatible with the Federal Act on the Harmonization of Direct Taxes of Cantons and Municipalities (StHG).
Considerations
The Federal Court stated that the harmonization law does grant the cantons and municipalities a wide scope of discretion in the assessment of immovable property. However, the valuation must not generally be significantly below the real market value. A target median value of 70 percent exceeds this limit, as it would most likely result in an average value that is significantly below the market value.
Furthermore, the cantonal or municipal property tax must not be taken into account in determining the official value, which…