Admissibility of the appeal against the decision of the Administrative Court in tax matters

Facts

The appellant, [A.] , lives in Russia and is the owner of a multi-family house in the canton of Zurich. For the tax period 2011, he was estimated at his discretion, as he had not filed a tax return. The appellant lodged an objection, which was rejected by the cantonal tax office. Subsequently, he lodged an appeal with the Tax Appeals Court, which dismissed the appeal because the appellant had not designated a service domicile in Switzerland. The appellant then lodged an appeal with the Administrative Court, which did not consider the appeal because it was late.

The appellant claims that the service of the decision of the Tax Appeals Court by deposit in the files was not valid and that he lodged the appeal in good time by handing it over to the Swiss consulate general in [U.] on June 30, 2014.

Considerations

The FSCA examines the admissibility of the appeal and the question of whether the service of the decision of the Tax Appeals Court by deposit in the files was valid. It finds that the appeal to the Administrative Court is admissible insofar as it is directed against the decision not to consider the appeal.

The FSCA assumes that the service of the decision of the Tax Appeals Court by deposit in the files was not valid because the appellant had not designated a service domicile in Switzerland. However, it also examines whether the appeal was lodged in good time by the appellant handing it over to the Swiss consulate general in…