Facts
The Federal Tax Administration (FTA) received a request for administrative assistance from the Spanish Tax Administration Agencia Tributaria (AT) on October 30, 2017, regarding the tax-liable person [A.] in Spain. The AT requested information about a bank account connected to a specific credit card. The FTA obtained the necessary information from the bank and ordered its transmission to the AT.
[A.] and [B.] , the account holder whose account was charged with the credit card, filed a complaint with the Federal Administrative Court and requested that the FTA's final rulings be declared null and void or repealed. The Federal Administrative Court found the final rulings to be null and void and did not consider the complaints.
The FTA filed a complaint with the Federal Supreme Court and requested that the judgments of the Federal Administrative Court be repealed and the FTA's final rulings be confirmed.
Considerations
1. Admissibility of the Complaint
The complaint is admissible because the lower court has concluded the proceedings and the FTA is entitled to file a complaint.
2. Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters
Switzerland is obligated to provide administrative assistance in tax matters to Spain, but not spontaneous assistance. The FTA must adhere to the information holder mentioned in the request for assistance, unless the requesting state cannot name the information holder and the requested state can identify the true information holder with reasonable effort.
3. Transmission of Bank Information
The FTA obtained the information about the bank account connected to the credit card from the account-holding bank and ordered its transmission to the AT. This is not objectionable, as the AT actually requested the information and it is likely to be relevant for the claimed tax purpose.
4. Affected Person
[B.] is not an affected person within the meaning of Art. 3 lit. a TAAA, as she is not tax-liable in…