Facts
Company A. AG was a real estate company headquartered in R., Canton of Bern. The majority shareholder with a 94 percent stake was G. On September 28, 2001, the company was dissolved and entered into liquidation. X., the son of the majority shareholder, was appointed as the liquidator.
By a deed of assignment dated April 29, 2003, the company, represented by the liquidator X., transferred the liquidation surplus in kind as an inheritance dividend to the four descendants of the deceased majority shareholder G. (including X.) with 23.5 percent each, as well as two members of the Z. family with 3 percent each. On the same day, the six new owners sold the properties to a pension fund.
X. declared the natural dividend of CHF 2,358,960.-- reported by the Federal Tax Administration in his 2003 tax return for the Canton of Fribourg. He requested that it be taxed at only 25 percent, as a 75 percent tax reduction was provided for under the transitional provisions.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court held that the appellant X. was directly benefited and his share of the natural dividend should be taxed with him. The tax authorities may adhere to what was agreed in the publicly recorded deed of assignment, what was economically intended, and what was actually carried out.
The appellant's complaint about a violation of the prohibition of intercantonal double taxation is unfounded.…