Facts
The [X.] & Co., a collective company with its seat in [Y.] , aims to trade in men's and women's confectionery and related products. The company was originally registered in the register of value-added tax payers as a taxpayer. In 1983, the [X.] operations were restructured, and [X.] -Kleidung AG was registered as a wholesaler in the register of value-added tax payers, while [X.] & Co. was deleted from this register as of December 31, 1983.
The Federal Tax Administration conducted an audit at [X.] & Co. and [X.] -Kleidung AG in April 1997 and came to the conclusion that the conditions under which the deletion of [X.] & Co. and the registration of [X.] -Kleidung AG in the register of value-added tax payers were made were no longer given. It therefore ordered the re-registration of [X.] & Co. in the register of value-added tax payers with retroactive effect from January 1, 1992, and obliged the company to pay Fr. 43,087.-- in value-added tax for the tax periods from the 1st quarter of 1992 to the 4th quarter of 1994.
[X.] & Co. filed an administrative court appeal with the Federal Court and requested that the decision of the Federal Tax Appeals Commission of March 27, 2002, be set aside.
Considerations
The Federal Court has declared the administrative court appeal to be admissible, as the appellant is entitled to bring the appeal as a taxpayer. The court has found that the conditions for claiming storage taxation are not met, as the Federal Tax Administration has taken into account the value-added taxes paid by the appellant to the taxable suppliers in the relevant supplementary invoice.
The court has also found that the lower court rightly…