Facts
The complainant [X.] has been living with his partner [A.] since 1995 and has a common daughter [B.] with her. He pays his partner CHF 1,500.-- per month for the daughter. The complainant claimed a deduction for maintenance contributions for the daughter in the amount of CHF 18,000.-- in his 2002 tax return. The tax authority and the cantonal tax court rejected the deduction.
The complainant filed a complaint with the Federal Supreme Court and requested that the decision of the Tax Court of the Canton of Solothurn of September 26, 2005, be revoked and that he be granted a deduction for the maintenance contribution for the daughter [B.] in the amount of CHF 18,000.-- for direct federal tax and cantonal tax.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court examined whether the maintenance contributions paid by the complainant in 2002 for the common daughter could be deducted from his income. It found that parental custody for the daughter [B.] is exclusively incumbent on the mother and that the complainant therefore pays maintenance contributions to the mother.
The court concluded that the deductibility of maintenance contributions for minor children only applies to maintenance contributions that are family-law-related and not to voluntary contributions. The complainant submitted a cohabitation agreement from December 2000 to the tax court, which also regulates the maintenance obligation towards his acknowledged daughter and which was approved by the guardianship authority in this respect.
The Federal Supreme Court ruled that the maintenance contributions paid by the complainant for the…