Facts
The appellant, [S.] , operates an office for construction law issues and has been affiliated with the compensation office of the Canton of Zurich as a self-employed person since 1 November 2000. In the years 2004 and 2005, he performed work for the building department of the municipality of [Y.] at an hourly rate of CHF 150.-. The compensation office demanded equal contributions from the municipality of [Y.] for the years 2004 and 2005, which the appellant contested on the grounds that it was a self-employed gainful activity.
The Social Insurance Court of the Canton of Zurich dismissed the appeal, whereupon the appellant filed an appeal in public law matters. The municipality of [Y.] supported the appeal, while the compensation office and the Federal Office for Social Insurance waived a statement.
Considerations
The Federal Court had to decide whether the income earned by the appellant in the years 2004 and 2005 at the municipality of [Y.] came from non-self-employed or self-employed gainful activity. The lower court had established that the appellant had committed himself to a temporary contract for the interim management of the building and environment department of the municipality of [Y.] and was thus integrated into the organization of the municipality.
However, the Federal Court found that the lower court had not established a legally relevant fact, namely whether the payments made by the appellant to the compensation office were based on a final contribution ruling. The compensation office had assessed the appellant with contribution rulings of 28 June 2007 for the years 2004 and 2005, whereby the entire declared income from self-employed gainful activity was in the same order of magnitude and no income from non-self-employed activity was declared.
The Federal Court concluded that the compensation…