Facts
[A.] is a self-employed person affiliated with the Lucerne Compensation Fund. In 2009, he made contributions (excluding risk contributions) totaling CHF 1,688,000 (CHF 108,000 regular contributions + CHF 1,580,000 purchase of contribution years) to his voluntary occupational pension plan. The Compensation Fund initially set a contributory income of CHF 230,700, but later corrected this by allowing the purchase of contribution years up to half of the income from self-employment (CHF 296,589) reported to the competent tax authority for federal direct tax, i.e. CHF 148,294, as a deduction.
[A.] appealed against this decision. The Lucerne Cantonal Court dismissed the appeal. [A.] then filed a public law appeal with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the appeal. According to case law, for self-employed persons, the purchase of contribution years within the framework of voluntary occupational pension plans is generally deductible up to half of the amount actually paid. Limits are set by the restriction on the purchase to the amount of the regulatory benefits and the limitation of the insurable income of self-employed persons to ten times the upper limit according to Art. 8 para. 1 BVG.
According to the guidelines of the Federal Social Insurance Office, the cantonal tax authorities determine the permissible purchase amounts under Art. 79b BVG and the applicable regulations and list them separately in the tax return. The Compensation Fund deducts half…