Dismissal of the complaint against the refusal to refund the withholding tax on a lottery win

Facts

The complainant, [X.] , is the daughter of [Y.] , who achieved a lottery win of CHF 7,509,307.90 on May 3, 2006. The winnings were transferred to her bank account on September 28, 2006, after deducting the withholding tax of 35%. [Y.] did not file a tax return for the 2006 tax year and was reminded by the tax administration of the canton of Valais on April 23, 2007. On January 11, 2008, [Y.] had to be admitted to the hospital urgently due to a brain tumor. On February 29, 2008, the tax administration of the canton of Valais conducted an estimated tax assessment for [Y.] without being aware of the lottery win. The assessment was served on the taxpayer's residence in [A.] by order of March 4, 2008. [Y.] passed away on March 31, 2009, and the complainant applied for a refund of the withholding tax.

The tax administration of the canton of Valais rejected the claim for a refund of the withholding tax because the tax return had not been filed on time. The complainant filed a complaint and appeal with the Tax Appeals Commission of the canton of Valais, which dismissed the remedy. The complainant then filed a complaint in public law matters with the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court examined the admissibility of the complaint and found that the complainant was affected by the contested decision and was entitled to appeal. The court applied the law ex officio and reviewed the application of the harmonized cantonal tax law by the cantonal authorities with free cognition.

The court found that the withholding tax is levied at source and that the recipient of the income reduced by the tax can claim a refund of the withholding tax if the income subject to the withholding tax is properly declared. The court recognized that a taxpayer's claim to a refund of the withholding tax is forfeited if they fail to declare income subject to the withholding tax in the next tax return or do not supplement the self-declaration with correct information in good time, so that the income can still be taken into account before the assessment becomes final.

The court examined the question of whether the complainant could…