Facts
On 14 March 2012, the French tax authorities sent a request for administrative assistance in tax matters to the Federal Tax Administration concerning B., with a view to obtaining information about the Geneva-based company A. Sàrl, of which B. is the sole shareholder. The French authorities wanted to obtain information about the company's tax liability, the tax rate applied to it in 2010, and the amount of tax paid, the actual activity it carried out, its material and human resources in terms of premises, number of employees, and assets, as well as the amount of remuneration, dividends, and attendance fees paid to B.
The company appealed the decision of the Federal Tax Administration to the Federal Administrative Court, which partially upheld the appeal and amended the decision of the Federal Tax Administration. The Federal Tax Administration lodged a public law appeal with the Federal Court, which upheld the appeal.
Considerations
The Federal Court held that the concept of 'person concerned' in the context of international administrative assistance in tax matters must be interpreted in the light of the conventional criterion of probable relevance. The company, dominated by B., represents a 'person concerned' by the request for assistance which targets this taxpayer.
The Federal Court also held that the conventional reservation in favour of domestic law provided for in Art. 28 para. 3 CDI CH-FR refers, with regard to the obtaining of information from a person in Switzerland, to the DFTA. The provisions of the DFTA make a distinction between the taxpayer's duty to collaborate and the obligations to collaborate that apply to certain third parties.
The Federal Court concluded that the information requested from the company, which concerns its activity, the number of its employees, and its premises,…