Dismissal of the appeal against the payment order and determination of the validity of the digital signature

Facts

Parties:
Appellant: [A. AG]
Respondent: Swiss Confederation, represented by the Federal Tax Administration
Debt Collection Office SocRA

Facts:
On September 14, 2022, the Debt Collection Office SocRA issued a payment order against [A. AG] for a claim of CHF 2 million plus interest. On October 30, 2022, [A. AG] filed an appeal with the Higher Court of the Canton of SocRA, requesting the payment order to be declared null and void and the enforcement proceedings to be lifted. The Higher Court dismissed the appeal by judgment of December 19, 2022. [A. AG] then filed an appeal with the Federal Supreme Court on January 12, 2023.

Considerations

The appeal against the payment order was filed in time and is admissible, subject to sufficient justification. The appellant alleges a violation of federal law and constitutional rights. The payment order bears the stamp of the Debt Collection Office SocRA and a scanned signature of the head. The appellant objects that the signature does not meet the requirements of Art. 6 FRAO. However, the lower court correctly held that a facsimile signature is permissible and does not need to be affixed with a physical stamp.

The appellant's claim that there is a significant deviation between the printed signature of the head of the office and the handwritten version is unfounded. The lower court did not find such a deviation, and the application for evidence by referring to current identification documents of the head of the office is inadmissible.

The…