Facts
X. was legally assessed for the federal direct tax 1995/96 on March 23, 1998. On July 23, 2002, house searches were conducted on X. and other involved parties, which the investigating judge had ordered on suspicion of debt collection fraud, creditor prejudice, and others. By letter dated November 15, 2004, the tax administration of the Canton of Bern initiated additional tax and tax evasion proceedings against X. On January 9, 2009, the tax administration of the Canton of Bern issued an additional tax assessment order, among others, for the federal direct tax 1995/96. A complaint by the taxpayer against the objection decision was rejected by the Tax Appeal Commission of the Canton of Bern in its decision of December 14, 2010 with regard to the federal direct tax 1995/96. Against this, X. filed a timely appeal in public law matters on February 4, 2011.
In a submission dated January 9, 2012, X. informed the Federal Supreme Court that the absolute statute of limitations for the federal direct tax 1995/96 had expired at the end of 2011, which had to be taken into account ex officio.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court decided that the appeal in public law matters, as an ordinary, devolutive and generally reformatory legal remedy, suspends the entry of legal force of the contested decision, so that the assessment statute of limitations continues to…