Facts
The appellant, [X.] , works as a self-employed taxi operator in the city of [Y.] . An inspection by the Federal Tax Administration in March 2000 revealed that the business records did not meet the statutory requirements for proper accounting. Therefore, the turnover was determined on the basis of the business kilometers driven and the number of trips. The appellant was registered in the register for value added tax payers as of October 1, 1995. The Federal Tax Administration demanded value added taxes of CHF 30,622.-- for the tax periods from the 3rd quarter of 1995 to the 2nd semester of 1999.
The appellant filed an administrative court appeal with the Federal Court on February 22, 2005, requesting that it be determined that he is not subject to value added tax. The appellant claims that in 1995, based on the recorded income, he assumed that he was not subject to value added tax.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the administrative court appeal of the appellant and found that the conditions for subjective tax liability under domestic tax law are met. The appellant has not fulfilled his statutory obligations by merely keeping logbooks and has not kept a cash book that would have made it possible to determine whether he is subject to value added tax or not.
The Federal Tax Administration, based on Art. 48 VATO, rightly made a discretionary assessment, as the records made by the appellant show numerous and significant defects and are also incomplete. The estimation method applied by the Federal Tax Administration appears to be appropriate and…