Facts
The Association of Dental Technical Laboratories of Switzerland (VZLS) and the Swiss Association of Dental Technicians (SZV) concluded a collective labour agreement (GAV) in 2003, which was declared generally binding by the Federal Council. The GAV stipulates that the employees and employers subject to the GAV must pay monthly "enforcement cost contributions" to the Parity Commission of Dental Technical Laboratories of Switzerland (PK Zahntechnik), which is organized as an association. These contributions were declared by the PK Zahntechnik as non-profit membership fees, which, however, was not accepted by the cantonal tax office. The PK Zahntechnik then filed a complaint with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court decided that the enforcement cost contributions are to be qualified as membership fees within the meaning of Art. 66 para. 1 DFTA and therefore do not belong to the taxable profit. Although the employees and employers are not direct members of the PK Zahntechnik, but only the two associations VZLS and SZV, the contributions meet the requirements for membership fees. This is because the PK Zahntechnik pursues the purpose of ensuring the enforcement and compliance of the GAV in the interest of all employers and employees active in the dental technology profession, which represents a typical association task and is not aimed at profit generation. Also,…