Facts
The appellants, [A.A.] and [B.A.] , lodged an appeal against the judgment of the Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern of 24 September 2015. This judgment concerned the back taxes for the cantonal and communal taxes 2002 and 2003 as well as the direct federal tax 2002. The tax administration of the Canton of Bern had imposed fines on the appellants and obliged them to pay back taxes.
Appellant [A.A.] was (co-)inventor of several patented procedures in the field of biomechanics and worked for the engineering firm [X. AG] from 1 March 2002, of which he was the sole shareholder. On 21 May 2002, [X. AG] filed a patent application for an elastic stabilization system for the spine and named [A.A.] as the inventor.
The tax administration assumed that [A.A.] had received a monetary benefit from [X. AG] in the amount of CHF 100,000.-- and imposed fines on him. The Tax Appeals Commission of the Canton of Bern and the Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern confirmed the fines and back taxes.
Considerations
The Federal Court applied the law ex officio and examined the appeal in public law matters. It found that the lower court had issued a single judgment for the cantonal and communal taxes as well as for the direct federal tax, which was permissible.
The Federal Court examined the appellants' procedural complaints, including the violation of Art. 30 para. 1 Cst. and Art. 6 para. 1 ECHR, the incorrect and arbitrary establishment of the facts, and the violation of the right to be heard. It came to the conclusion that…