Facts
The [X. AG] , successor in law to [Y. AG] , filed an appeal against the judgment of the Administrative Court of the Canton of Zug, Tax Law Chamber, of 26 November 2013. The subject of the dispute was the question of whether the tax administration of the Canton of Zug was justified in not taking into account the subsequently submitted, rectified annual accounts for the years 2005 and 2006 of the taxpayer.
The [Y. AG] had originally submitted tax returns for the years 2005 and 2006, in which it declared a taxable profit of CHF 5,859,609.-- (2005) and CHF 3,028,073.-- (2006). Later, the [X. AG] , as successor in law, submitted rectified tax returns, in which it corrected the taxable profit to CHF 31,113.-- (2005) and CHF 46,191.-- (2006).
The tax administration of the Canton of Zug and the Administrative Court of the Canton of Zug dismissed the appeal, as the conditions for a balance sheet amendment were not met and the trust relationship between [Y. AG] and its parent company [X. AG] could not be recognized for tax purposes.
Considerations
The Federal Court dismissed the appeal, as the lower court had correctly assessed the conditions for a balance sheet amendment. The appellant was unable to provide evidence of the existence of a trust relationship, as the formal requirements of the brochure of the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) were not met.
The Federal Court stated that the tax authorities were entitled to attribute legal relationships and legal transactions to the person in whose name they were held, and that the burden of proof for the trust relationship as a tax-reducing fact lay with the taxpayer. The appellant was unable to show that the lower court had arbitrarily established the facts or that the rectification of the defect was decisive for the proceedings.
The…