Facts
On 23 May 2017, the National Tax Service of the Republic of Korea (NTS) submitted a request for administrative assistance to the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) concerning B. Co. Ltd. and [A.], both domiciled or resident in the Republic of Korea. The request concerns the corporate tax of B. Co. Ltd. for the tax years 2012 to 2015. The NTS states that [A.] is the CEO of B. Co. Ltd. and has deposited a portion of B. Co. Ltd.'s business funds in the Swiss account of D. Limited. Neither [A.] nor B. Co. Ltd. have declared any income from the management of these financial assets.
The FTA granted administrative assistance to the requested extent, whereby C. (residential address: Republic of South Korea) appears as the beneficial owner of the account of D. Limited at Bank F. in U. in the bank documents to be transmitted.
[A.], B. Co. Ltd. and D. Limited challenged the final decisions of the FTA. The Federal Administrative Court dismissed the appeal, with the exception of the request for anonymization of the judgment.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court took up the appeal, as the question of whether the beneficial owner must be informed according to Art. 14 para. 1 or 2 of the Federal Act on International Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (StAhiG) is a legal question of fundamental importance.
The Federal Supreme Court…