Facts
The company Christian Holzäpfel GmbH based in Basel has filed an application for relief from British income tax, which was not forwarded by the Federal Tax Administration. The tax administration justified this by stating that a person not entitled to the agreement (Christian Holzäpfel) is substantially involved in the company and the company does not make an appropriate profit distribution within the meaning of Art. 2 para. 2 lit. b of the Federal Council Decree (FCD) of December 14, 1962 on measures against the unjustified use of double taxation agreements.
The company Christian Holzäpfel GmbH filed an administrative court appeal against the decision of the tax administration with the Federal Supreme Court. It requested that the contested decision be annulled and that it be determined that it is not making abusive use of the British-Swiss double taxation agreement.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court first examined whether the appellant should be granted a right of reply. It concluded that this was not the case, as the factual and legal circumstances had been sufficiently clarified by the appeal brief and the statement of position.
Furthermore, the Court found that the administrative court appeal against the decision of the tax administration was admissible. The Federal Council had made use of its authority to subject decisions of the tax administration on taxes of the other contracting state to the federal administrative jurisdiction.
On the…