Decision on the Admissibility of an Appeal in Administrative Assistance Matters

Facts

The present case concerns a request for administrative assistance from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States of America to Switzerland, based on the Double Taxation Agreement between the two countries. The Federal Administrative Court had granted the request for administrative assistance, whereupon the affected company A. Corp. filed an appeal with the Federal Supreme Court.

The Federal Supreme Court first had to examine whether the appeal was admissible. According to the Federal Act on International Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (StAhiG), an appeal is only admissible if a legal issue of fundamental importance is raised or if it is a particularly significant case.

The appellant A. Corp. listed a number of questions in its appeal, which it described as legal issues of fundamental importance. However, the Federal Supreme Court found that the appellant had not sufficiently substantiated these questions, so it was not clear in what respect these questions were actually of fundamental importance. Mere listings of questions are not sufficient for this purpose.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court held that according to the case law, the reasoning…