Facts
The complainants, spouses [A.B.] , operated an X-ray practice in the form of a collective company. In 1992, Dr. med. [A.] took over the practice and continued it as a sole proprietorship. Already in August 1992, he sold the practice to Dr. med. [D.] for a price of CHF 3,500,000.--. The tax administration of the canton of Lucerne levied a special tax on the liquidation profit of CHF 1,918,600.-- for the year 1993.
The complainants appealed against this assessment and claimed that the profit from the sale of the X-ray practice was not subject to direct federal tax. The Administrative Court of the canton of Lucerne dismissed the appeal.
The complainants filed an administrative appeal with the Federal Court and requested that the contested decision be set aside and that it be established that the profit from the sale of the X-ray practice was not subject to direct federal tax.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined whether the assessment of the special tax on capital gains was lawful. It found that the complainant had given up his independent gainful activity as a doctor and that an interim assessment had been made in accordance with Art. 96 para. 1 BdBSt.
The court dealt with the question of whether the complainant was required to keep accounts. It found that the complainant had exceeded the limit of CHF 100,000.-- pursuant to Art. 54 CRO in his X-ray practice with annual sales of CHF 2,362,195.-- in 1992 and CHF 2,208,935.-- in 1993.
The court came to the conclusion that the complainant required orderly accounting due…