Dismissal of the appeal regarding direct federal tax and state and municipal taxes 2010

Facts

The appellant [A.A.] is active in the management of Bank [X.] as [Y.] and lives separated from his wife. He has to pay his wife and their common children a fixed monthly amount of a total of CHF 19,500.-- (annually CHF 234,000.--) as well as an additional 27% of the gross amount of all variable income (such as bonuses in cash, shares, and options), minus all social security contributions. In 2010, [A.A.] received a salary of CHF 2,502,389.-- from his main employment and board of directors' fees of CHF 60,457.-- from Switzerland and CHF 50,016.-- from Italy. The maintenance contributions paid to his wife in the same year amounted to CHF 663,049.--, those for the children to CHF 86,400.--.

The appellant declared a taxable income of CHF 1,797,249.-- for state and municipal taxes and CHF 1,799,149.-- for direct federal taxes, as well as a taxable and determining wealth of CHF 3,605,351.-- in his tax return for the calendar year 2010. The competent tax commissioner estimated him on October 15, 2012, for state and municipal tax with a taxable income of CHF 1,812,100.-- and a taxable wealth according to the declaration, and for direct federal tax with a taxable income of CHF 1,813,900.--.

The deviation from the declaration was based on the fact that the tax commissioner only allowed the claimed deductions for maintenance contributions to the separated wife and children for the taxable income in Switzerland, proportionally to the (domestic) income shares.

Considerations

The Federal Court has dismissed the appeals against the judgments of the Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich, 2nd Division, of October 23, 2013, regarding direct federal tax and state and municipal taxes 2010.

The court has established that the factual findings and the amounts underlying the calculations of the lower instance are uncontested and that the appellant is subject to unlimited tax liability in the Canton of Zurich. The only disputed issue is how the maintenance contributions made by the appellant are to be allocated in the tax division between Switzerland or the Canton of Zurich and Italy.

The court has decided that general…