A-35-10 TAAA

The principle of subsidiarity does not require a state to consult the taxpayer prior to requesting international administrative assistance in tax matters, as long as its domestic law does not require it to do so. This was the ruling of the Federal Court on the legal question of principle raised in case 2C_352/2024 (intended for publication). In 2020, the Israeli Tax Information Exchange Service requested the FTA to provide it with various information (identity of account holders, identity of beneficial[...]

In three judgments 1C_435/2024, 1C_604/2024 (intended for publication) and 1C_610/2024 of 19 May 2025, the Federal Supreme Court ruled to uphold the freeze on bank assets ordered by the Federal Council in 2022 and 2023, the beneficial owners of which are persons belonging to the political entourage of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The assets had initially been seized following a request for international mutual assistance in criminal matters addressed to Switzerland by Ukraine (see TPF, RR.2017.118-121, RR.2017.122, 6 February[...]

Bank accounts held by a lawyer may contain information protected by professional secrecy, which must not be disclosed to a foreign state in the context of administrative assistance in tax matters. This must be assumed to be the case for client accounts opened using Form R, but it is also possible that other accounts held by the lawyer may contain protected information. These are the principles laid down by the Federal Court in a ruling 2C_116/2023 of 2 May 2025[...]

In a judgement 2C_219/2022 of 30 January 2025, intended for publication, the Federal Supreme Court (FSC) rejected a request for administrative assistance in tax matters submitted by Russia. The proceedings before the FSC had been suspended since 2022. Russia had sent a request for assistance to the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) in 2018 in order to identify the economic beneficiaries of dividends paid to Cypriot companies on three bank accounts opened in Switzerland and, if necessary, to reassess the amount[...]