Minimum contribution for income from a secondary self-employed activity

Facts

The case concerns an insured person, S., who exercises a dependent gainful activity as the main activity and a secondary self-employed activity as a legal and tax advisor. The compensation fund of the canton of Berne issued a contribution decision for the period from January 1 to December 31, 1992, based on an annual income of 4,000 Swiss francs from the secondary self-employed activity. The minimum contribution was set at 360 Swiss francs plus administrative costs.

S. contested this decision and requested that his personal contributions for 1992 be set at 241.25 Swiss francs. The administrative court of the canton of Berne accepted his request, based on the administrative directive Rz. 1312 of the WSN, which provides that the contribution must be levied at the lowest rate of the progressive scale.

The compensation fund of the canton of Berne appealed this decision, arguing that the administrative directive Rz. 1312 is contrary to the law and the ordinance.

Considerations

The Federal Court examined the question of whether the administrative directive Rz. 1312 of the WSN is in accordance with the applicable legal and regulatory provisions. It found that the directive is contrary to the law and the ordinance, as it provides that the contribution must be levied at the lowest rate of the progressive scale, whereas the law provides that the minimum contribution must be collected for income from a secondary self-employed activity that does not exceed 7,200 Swiss francs per year.

The Federal Court also examined the argument of the respondent, according to which the text of Article 8 of the OASIA does not correspond to its true meaning. It found that this argument is not founded, as the Botschaft zur neunten AHV-Revision clearly shows that the legislator intended that persons…