Facts
On 17 April 2007, the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of Ticino reported to the Cantonal Tax Division that in the context of criminal proceedings against A., elements had emerged that could constitute a possible tax evasion by the accused. The Tax Division therefore requested the Criminal Appeals Chamber of the Court of Appeal to grant it access to the entire file indicated by the Public Prosecutor's Office. The taxpayer consented to transmit to the tax authority only certain acts and documents. The Criminal Appeals Chamber partially granted the request, authorizing the examination of the documents by the Tax Division only to the extent of the minutes extracts and the documentation indicated by the taxpayer. Against this decision, the Cantonal Tax Division filed a public law appeal before the Federal Court.Considerations
The Federal Court upheld the appeal to the extent that it was admissible, annulling the contested decision and referring the case back to the Criminal Appeals Chamber for a new decision. It noted that the Federal Act on Direct Federal Tax does not regulate the procedure applicable to requests based on Art. 112, therefore the regulation of legal remedies falls within the competence of the cantons. However, the procedure adopted in the Canton of Ticino, which assigns jurisdiction to the Criminal Appeals Chamber based on Art. 27 of the Cantonal Code of Criminal Procedure, does not appear arbitrary.
As regards the merits of the dispute, the Federal Court specified that Art. 112 para. 1 DFTA aims to promote greater cooperation between the authorities, no longer requiring that the information requested be useful for the taxation of taxpayers, but only that it be necessary for the application of the law. However, the tax authority cannot request access to the files of criminal proceedings for…