Rejection of the request by the cantonal tax administration to include new elements in the tax reassessment procedure

Facts

The case concerns a taxpayer, X., domiciled in the canton of Geneva, who was subject to a tax reassessment and tax evasion procedure opened by the Cantonal Tax Administration of the canton of Geneva (hereinafter the Cantonal Administration) for the fiscal periods 2004 to 2011. This procedure was initiated following the discovery of an undeclared bank account by the taxpayer, entitled "A".

During the appeal procedure before the Court of Justice of the canton of Geneva, the Cantonal Administration requested that new factual elements be taken into account, namely the existence of eight other undeclared bank accounts by the taxpayer. However, the Court of Justice rejected this request, considering that it would have led to an inadmissible extension of the subject matter of the dispute.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal confirmed the decision of the Court of Justice. It considered that, in administrative judicial proceedings, the judge can in principle only examine and judge the legal relationships on which the administrative authority has previously ruled in a decision. The subject matter of the dispute is thus limited to what was the subject of the contested decision, and the judge cannot extend the procedure to new elements, except for irrelevant exceptions in this case.

Neither the Federal Act on Direct Federal Tax, nor the Federal Act on the Harmonization of Direct Taxes of Cantons and Municipalities, nor…