Offsetting a public law claim of the Confederation against a private law claim against the Confederation

Facts

Bigla AG, in composition liquidation, supplied office furniture to the PTT during the composition moratorium period. The Federal Tax Administration asserted a claim for turnover tax against Bigla AG and declared its intention to offset it against the claims that Bigla AG had against other federal agencies, in particular the claim of CHF 10,357 against the PTT. The liquidator of Bigla AG contested the Confederation's right of offset.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal considers that the civil law route is the appropriate one to determine whether a private law claim of a private individual against an administrative division of the Confederation can be offset against a public law claim of another administrative division against the same private individual. The PTT, as an administrative division of the Confederation, can offset their debt to a private individual against a claim of the Federal Tax Administration against the same private individual.

Art. 213 para. 2 DEBA, in conjunction with Art. 316m DEBA, only excludes offsetting for…