Facts
The case concerns the question of when an insured person is considered to be self-employed and when they should be classified as non-employed. The administration and the lower court had assumed that self-employment only begins when the contributor generates income. The Federal Court disagrees with this view.
The decisive factor for the commencement of self-employment is not the contribution amount or the existence of income, but the actual economic circumstances. Self-employment can also exist when no income is initially generated, as long as the activity is perceivable as such in economic transactions.
Self-employed persons who do not reach the income limit according to Art. 8 para. 2 sentence 1 AHVG are not automatically considered non-employed pursuant to Art. 10 para. 1 sentence 2 AHVG. Rather, they are to be treated as self-employed.
Considerations
The Federal Court states that Art. 10 para. 1 sentence 2 AHVG also covers self-employed persons. The legislator intended with this provision to ensure that the contribution obligation on earned income takes priority and that the classification as non-employed is only applied subsidiarily.
For the assessment of whether someone is self-employed, the actual economic circumstances are decisive, not the amount of contributions. Self-employment begins as soon as it is perceivable as such in economic transactions, and not only with the flow of income.
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