Facts
[A. GmbH] in Liquidation, a company domiciled in Germany, delivered posters to customers in Switzerland from 2009 to 2013. During this period, it was registered in the Swiss Value Added Tax register and had a permit from the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) to make customs declarations for imports into Switzerland in its own name (so-called "foreign" declaration of representation).
The FTA asserted value added tax claims against [A. GmbH], as the value added tax (domestic tax) had been shown on the invoices to customers in Switzerland but had not been paid. The Federal Administrative Court dismissed the appeals filed against this.
[A. GmbH] appealed against this judgment to the Federal Supreme Court in public law matters.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court concluded that [A. GmbH] does not owe any value added tax for its deliveries to Switzerland in the period from August 1, 2009 to December 31, 2013.
For the deliveries from August 1 to December 31, 2009, [A. GmbH] would have been obliged to account for the domestic tax on all deliveries according to the administrative ordinances in force at the time. However, such an application of the administrative ordinances would be unlawful, as it would impose material obligations on the parties that go beyond the obligations provided for in the law.
Also for the deliveries from January 1, 2010 to June 30, 2013, the levying of domestic tax based on the FTA's permit for import in its own name is not…