Facts
The appellants, [A.C.] and [B.C.] , filed an appeal against the rulings on the cantonal and municipal taxes as well as the direct federal tax 2004. The Tax Appeals Commission of the Canton of Bern did not consider the appeals, as they were deemed late. The Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern dismissed the appeals filed against this decision.
The appellants requested the Federal Court to overturn the judgment of the Administrative Court and to refer the matter back to the Tax Appeals Commission of the Canton of Bern for a substantive review.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the appeal in public law matters and found that the lower court had issued a single judgment for the cantonal and municipal taxes as well as for the direct federal tax, which was permissible.
The Federal Court pointed out that the appeal was directed against the final decision of a cantonal authority in a public law matter and that the requirements for an appeal in public law matters were met.
The Federal Court stated that rulings and decisions of the tax authorities must be served in writing to the taxpayer and contain instructions on legal remedies. It found that the ruling on the appeal, which was served on November 24, 2014, was pre-dated to December 10, 2014, and thus bore an incorrect date.
The Federal Court found that the ruling on the appeal was defective, as it created the impression that an appeal could be filed until the printed deadline due to the additional print of a false deadline for the appeal period. However, it also found that the representative of the appellants could not rely on the printed deadline for filing the appeal, as the instructions on legal remedies indicated that it was not the date or the printed date that…