Facts
The appellant [X.] filed a complaint in public law matters against the decision of the Administrative Court of the Canton of Thurgau of 27 August 2008 regarding state and communal taxes 2005 on 16 October 2008. She was requested to pay an advance of costs of CHF 2'500.--, which she did not pay within the set deadline. After the expiry of the additional deadline of 28 November 2008, the appellant submitted an application for free legal aid, which was insufficiently substantiated and without evidence.
The parties are the appellant [X.] and the tax administration of the Canton of Thurgau. The proceedings were conducted before the Federal Court, 2nd public law division, under the chairmanship of Federal Judge Merkli.
Considerations
The Federal Court has dealt with the question of whether an application for free legal aid, which is submitted after the expiry of the first payment deadline and within the additional deadline, can preserve the deadline for paying the advance of costs. According to Art. 62 para. 3 FSCA, the instructing judge or the president of the division sets a reasonable deadline for paying the advance and, in the event of its expiry, an additional deadline, whereby the Federal Court does not consider the application if the advance is not paid even within the additional deadline.
The court has established that the appellant, despite being aware of the cost risk caused by the proceedings, allowed the ordinary payment deadline to expire and only submitted an insufficiently substantiated application for free legal aid within the additional deadline. Such an application can only…