Facts
A.X. and B.X. were involved in the estate community of Y., which owned an agricultural business. In the assessment for the cantonal and municipal taxes 2007, A.X. claimed a loss of CHF 67,000.-- from the transfer of the farm, which, however, was not recognized by the Tax Commission Z. For the cantonal and municipal taxes 2007, the spouses [A.] and B.X. were assessed with a taxable income of CHF 63,400.--.
With the tax return 2008, the spouses [A.] and B.X. claimed a loss carryforward of CHF 67,000.-- and demanded its offset against the remaining income, which, however, the Tax Commission [Z.] refused. The assessment for the cantonal and municipal taxes 2008 amounted to a taxable income of CHF 68,600.--. Objection and appeal remained unsuccessful. An appeal by the taxpayers was dismissed by the Administrative Court of the Canton of Aargau with a judgment dated February 2, 2011.
Considerations
The Federal Court states that losses according to Art. 67 StHG cannot be carried forward indefinitely, but only to the extent that they could not yet be offset against income. Since the Tax Commission [Z.] has legally assessed the appellants for the 2007 tax period and determined that there is no offsettable loss, the appellants should have asserted this by means of legal…