Facts
On May 22, 2019, the General Assembly of the Municipality of Naters/VS adopted a revised regulation on the resort and accommodation tax on the proposal of the Municipal Council. The regulation provides that owners or long-term tenants of vacation properties (vacation apartments and alpine huts) must pay the resort tax by means of an annual lump-sum payment, while the other accommodation providers must settle the resort tax based on the actual overnight stays. The annual lump-sum payment is graded according to the size of the vacation apartment. Furthermore, the amount of the resort tax per overnight stay for vacation apartments and hotel establishments was increased from CHF 2.50 to CHF 4.50.
By complaint dated November 11, 2019, eight complainants, who are owners of vacation apartments or operators of accommodation establishments in the Municipality of Naters/VS, contested the resort tax regulation.
Considerations
The Federal Court first examined whether the increase in the resort tax from CHF 2.50 to CHF 4.50 was arbitrary. It concluded that the resort tax as a cost allocation tax is permissible as long as it is used exclusively to finance the tourist infrastructure and services. The Federal Court found that the additional revenue from the resort tax is offset by corresponding additional expenditures, particularly for the introduction of a new digital guest card. Thus, the increase in the resort tax is objectively justified and not arbitrary.
Furthermore, the Federal Court examined whether the different basis for assessing the resort tax for guests of accommodation establishments and owners of vacation apartments constitutes an inadmissible unequal treatment. It concluded that the lump-sum…