Facts
The appellants, [X.] and [Y.] , filed an objection on November 10, 2008, against the supplementary tax assessments and penalty rulings for cantonal and federal taxes 2006, which were issued on October 7, 2008. The tax authority of the canton of Solothurn did not consider the objection because the objection period had not been observed. The Cantonal Tax Court of Solothurn dismissed the appeal against this decision. The appellants requested the Federal Court to overturn the judgment of the Tax Court and to instruct the tax authorities to consider the objection.
The appellants claimed that their objection had been filed in a timely manner, as they had only collected the tax assessment and penalty rulings the following week. However, the tax authority and the Tax Court assumed that the shipment with the disputed rulings had been placed in the appellants' mailbox on October 10, 2008, and that they had thus been properly notified.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined whether the objection period had been observed. It found that the service of the tax assessment and penalty rulings had taken place on October 10, 2008, when the shipment was placed in the appellants' mailbox. The appellants could not prove that they had emptied their mailbox only in the following week.
The Court found that the 30-day objection period under Art. 132 para. 1 DFTA had begun to run on October 11 and had ended on…