A AG, which was founded in 2000 by researchers from the University of Applied Sciences D, has as its object the development and distribution of …, in particular in the areas of ….. It had its registered office in Zurich until the transfer of its registered office to Zug in 2021. By contract dated 16 June 2011, it was taken over by Group E, Country Q, or by an acquisition company founded by it for this purpose, for a share purchase price of EUR …. On the same day, it concluded two contracts with E-Schweiz AG, which was in the process of being founded (entered in the Commercial Register on 7 September 2011), in which it undertook to provide general and administrative services on the one hand and research and development on the other. As of 30 September 2011, A AG sold all ”Intellectual Property ... Read more

In this case, the Swiss tax authorities had refused to refund A SA withholding tax on an amount of the so-called distributable reserves. The refund was denied based on the Swiss “Old Reserves-doctrin”. “…the doctrine relates the existence of the practice of the Federal Tax Administration of 15 November 1990, known as the “purchase of a full wallet” (“Kauf eines vollen Portemonnaies” or the “old reserves” practice… According to this practice, “tax avoidance is deemed to have occurred when a holding company based in Switzerland buys all the shares of a company based in Switzerland with substantial reserves from persons domiciled (or having their seat) abroad at a price higher than their nominal value, …” The doctrin is applied by the tax authorities based on a schematic asset/liability test: if there are distributable reserves/retained earnings prior to the transfer of shares from a jurisdiction with ... Read more

Intra group services (treasury, administration, accounting etc) were performed and charged to a Swiss resident A AG. The payment for these services had been determined by application of the CUP method. The tax authorities found that the payment for the services had been to high and instead applied a cost-plus method which resulted in lower service fees. Judgement of the Supreme Court The court decided in favor of the tax authorities. A cost-plus method was more appropriate as The taxpayer had been unable to provide evidence of any third party pricing of comparable services The services provided were of a low-value-adding nature, for which the cost-plus method is more appropriate. Click here for English translation Click here for other translation ... Read more

C. SA provides “services, in particular in the areas of communication, management, accounting, management and budget control, sales development monitoring and employee training for the group to which it belongs, active in particular in the field of “F”. C. SA is part of an international group of companies, G. group, whose ultimate owner is A. The G group includes H. Ltd, based in the British Virgin Islands, I. Ltd, based in Guernsey and J. Ltd, also based in Guernsey. In 2005, K. was a director of C. SA. On December 21 and December 31, 2004, an exclusive agreement for distribution of “F” was entered into between L. Ltd, on the one hand, and C. SA , H. Ltd and J. Ltd, on the other hand. Under the terms of this distribution agreement, L. Ltd. undertook to supply “F” to the three companies as of January ... Read more

Two Swiss companies, A GmbH und B GmbH, belonged to a multinational group under a Dutch parent. The group provided food and fuel to military troops and civilian in areas of crises and armed conflicts. A group company located in the United Arab Emirates provided services to the Swiss companies primarily in relation to activities in Afghanistan. A GmbH und B GmbH had a permanent establishment in Afghanistan. As there are no tax treaties between Switzerland and Afghanistan, for Swiss tax purposes the allocation of income between the two companies and the permanent establishment in Afghanistan was governed by Swiss domestic law. A tax assessment was issued by the authorities which was brought to the Swiss courts by the companies. In 2018 the case ended up in the Swiss Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that according to Swiss law, the profit allocation has to ... Read more

C. SA provides “services, in particular in the areas of communication, management, accounting, management and budget control, sales development monitoring and employee training for the group to which it belongs, active in particular in the field of “F”. C. SA is part of an international group of companies, G. group, whose ultimate owner is A. The G group includes H. Ltd, based in the British Virgin Islands, I. Ltd, based in Guernsey and J. Ltd, also based in Guernsey. In 2005, K. was a director of C. SA. On December 21 and December 31, 2004, an exclusive agreement for distribution of “F” was entered into between L. Ltd, on the one hand, and C. SA , H. Ltd and J. Ltd, on the other hand. Under the terms of this distribution agreement, L. Ltd. undertook to supply “F” to the three companies as of January ... Read more

Coffee Machine Ltd. was founded in Ireland and responsible for the trademark and patent administration as well as the management of the research and development activities of the A group, the world’s largest manufacturer of coffee machines. A Swiss subsidiary of the A group reported payments of dividend to the the Irish company and the group claimed that the payments were exempt from withholding tax under the DTA and issued a claim for a refund. Tax authorities found that the Irish company was not the beneficial owner of the dividend and on that basis denied the companies claim for refund. The lower Swiss court upheld the decision of the tax authorities. Judgement of the Supreme Court The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the lower court and supplemented its findings with the argument, that the arrangement was also abusive because of the connection between the ... Read more

“PPL AG” had been set up as a limited liability company and in addition to the ordinary share capital, “PPL AG” had issued non-voting shares (participation certificates) to its German parent company and to three German individual investors in an aggregate amount of CHF 1.82 million. “PPL AG” was later converted into a joint stock corporation and on that occasion the participation certificates were converted into Profit Participating Loans (PPL), with an annual interest rate of 7%. In 2015, the Swiss tax administration carried out a tax audit of “PPL AG” for the years 2010-2014 and issued an assessment claiming payment of CHF 94,000 in withholding taxes on constructive dividends. According to the tax administration “PPL AG” had paid excessive amounts of interest to its lenders under the PPLs, exceeding the safe harbour interest rates published by the Swiss tax administration for the years under ... Read more

Two Swiss investors had established a structure for the management of a private equity fund in the form of a Swiss “Investment Advisor” AG and a Jersey “Investment Mananger” Ltd. They each held 50% of the shares in the Swiss AG and 50% of the shares in the Jersey Ltd. Swiss AG and Jersey Ltd then entered an investment advisory agreement whereby the Swiss AG carried out all advisory activities on behalf of Jersey Ltd and Jersey Ltd assumed all the risk of the investments. Both investors were employed by Swiss AG and Jersey Ltd had no employees execpt two directors who each received a yearly payment of CFH 15,000. According to the investment advisory agreement Jersey Ltd would remunerate the Swiss AG with 66% of the gross fee income. The Swiss AG would carry out all relevant functions related to investment advisory and recommend ... Read more

A Swiss bank had a subsidiary in Guernsey that administered a number of funds and received a management fee of 1.5% of the net value of the assets under management and a performance fee of 10–20% of the funds’ performance. The activities of the Guernsey company were delegated to the Swiss parent and third parties. Both the third parties and the Swiss parent received an management fee of 0.75%, but only the third parties also received a performance fee. The tax administration claimed that 70% of the performance fees and a remuneration for other activities should have been paid to the Swiss parent. Judgement of the Supreme Court The Court found that the agreed conditions with third-party service providers were at arm’s length, and should also have been applied in relation to the Swiss parent company. Hence, the court dismissed the appeal of Click here ... Read more

A Swiss company provided administration and other services to trusts. According to the company a related party in the Seychelles handled the daily business and received remuneration in accordance with an intra-group service agreement. Due to the service fees paid the Swiss company reported losses. Following an audit the tax administration issued an assessment where the fees paid to the related company in the Seychelles had been determined using the cost plus (5%) method. Judgement of the Supreme Court The court dismissed the appeal of A. SA and upheld the assessment of the tax authorities. The Court confirmed that the Seychelles company only performed routine functions without assumption of any significant risk. The cost plus 5% remuneration was therefore confirmed. Excerpts “4.6. According to the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs, by referring to the conditions that would prevail between independent enterprises for comparable transactions (i.e ... Read more

“PPL AG” had been set up as a limited liability company and in addition to the ordinary share capital, “PPL AG” had issued non-voting shares (participation certificates) to its German parent company and to three German individual investors in an aggregate amount of CHF 1.82 million. “PPL AG” was later converted into a joint stock corporation and on that occasion the participation certificates were converted into Profit Participating Loans (PPL), with an annual interest rate of 7%. In 2015, the Swiss tax administration carried out a tax audit of “PPL AG” for the years 2010-2014 and issued an assessment claiming payment of CHF 94,000 in withholding taxes on constructive dividends. According to the tax administration “PPL AG” had paid excessive amounts of interest to its lenders under the PPLs, exceeding the safe harbour interest rates published by the Swiss tax administration for the years under ... Read more

The Swiss company X SA (hereinafter: the Company or the Appellant), is part of the multinational pharmaceutical group X, whose parent holding is X BV (hereinafter referred to as the parent company) in Netherlands, which company owns ten subsidiaries, including the Company and company X France SAS (hereinafter: the French company). According to the appendices to the accounts, the parent company did not employ any employees in 2006 or in 2007, on the basis of a full-time employment contract. In 2010 and 2011, an average of three employees worked for this company. By agreement of July 5, 2006, the French company undertook to carry out all the works and studies requested by the parent company for a fee calculated on the basis of their cost, plus a margin of 15%. The French company had to communicate to the parent company any discoveries or results relating ... Read more

A Swiss company manufactured and distributed pharmaceutical and chemical products. The Swiss company was held by a Dutch parent that held another company in France. R&D activities were delegated by the Dutch parent to its French subsidiary and compensated with cost plus 15%. On that basis the Swiss company had to pay a royalty to its Dutch parent of 2.5% of its turnover for using the IP developed. Following an audit the Swiss tax authorities concluded that the Dutch parent did not contribute to the development of IP. In 2006 and 2007, no employees were employed, and in 2010 and 2011 there were only three employees. Hence the royalty agreement was disregarded and an assessment issued where the royalty payments were denied. Instead the R&D agreement between the Dutch parent and the French subsidiary was regarded as having been concluded between the Swiss and French ... Read more

A GmbH, based in Zurich, was a subsidiary of the D group operating mainly in the field of consumer electronics worldwide, headquartered in country E. A GmbH was primarily responsible for acquiring exploitation rights to … and other related activities. The D Group also owned company F in Land H, which was responsible for the global treasury and cash pooling of the Group. On December 1 2008 A GmbH had entered into an agreement with Company F for the short-term deposit of excess capital and short-term borrowing. Under the terms of the agreement, if the balance was in A GmbH’s favor, A GmbH would be credited interest based on the one-month London Interbank Bid Rate (LIBID) minus 6.25 basis points, but not less than 0.05%. Following an audit in relation to the tax periods of 1.4.2009-31.3.2010 and 1.4.2010-31.3.2011, the tax authorities took the view that ... Read more

The distinction between cash pool receivables and long-term loans. A GmbH is a group company of the global A-group. The A Group also includes company F Ltd, which is responsible for the global treasury and cash pooling of the A Group. In 2008, A GmbH entered into an agreement with F Ltd on the short-term deposit of excess liquidity and short-term borrowing (cash pool). Under the terms of the agreement, if the balance were in A GmbH’s favor, recievables would be credited interest based on the one-month London Interbank Bid Rate (LIBID) less 6 , 25 basis points, but at least 0.05%. The Swiss tax administration argued that a portion of the cash pool receivable had to be treated as a long-term loan bearing higher interest rates. The long-term loan was set to the minimum cash pool receivable balance of each fiscal year. The interest ... Read more

A AG granted loans to group companies as part of a cash pooling system via the parent company. The Swiss tax administration found the interest insufficient, resulting in a hidden profit distribution. According to the Swiss rules and doctrine, transactions between related parties must be consistent with the arm’s length principle. For the third-party comparison, the Court relied on the long-term interest rates, even if the cash pool balances were correctly accounted for as short-term loans. The basis for the third-party comparison for the cash pool interest rate was determined to be the market interest rate measured on the 5-year SWAP rate. The Court decision was partial approval of A AG and refusal to the Tax administration. Click here for other translation ... Read more

The Federal Supreme Court denied the refund of withholding taxes claimed by a Danish bank on the basis of the double tax treaty between Denmark and Switzerland due to the lack of beneficial ownership. The Danish bank entered into total return swap agreements with different clients. For hedging purposes, the Danish bank purchased a certain amount of the underlying assets (companies listed in the Swiss stock exchange) and received dividend distributions from these Swiss companies. The Federal Supreme Court was of the opinion that the Danish bank lost the right for refund of the withholding taxes on the dividends received based on the DTT-DK/CH. According to the Federal Supreme Court, the Danish Bank could not be qualified as the beneficial owner of these shares. The Federal Supreme Court denied the beneficial ownership on the grounds that the Danish bank was, in fact, obliged to transfer ... Read more

In this case, the Swiss Court elaborates on application of the arm’s length principle, transfer pricing methods, OECD TPG, and the burden of proof in Switzerland. Excerpt in English (unofficial translation) “5.1. The question of whether there is a disproportion between the service provided by the company and the compensation it provides is determined by comparison with what has been agreed between independent persons (“Drittvergleich”): the question is whether the benefit would have been granted, to the same extent, to a third party outside the company, or to check whether the “arm’s length” was respected. This method makes it possible to identify the market value of the property transferred or the service rendered, with which the counter-benefit actually required must be compared. 5.2. Where there is a free market, the prices charged therein are decisive and allow an effective comparison with those applied in the ... Read more

Decision on the criteria for the arm’s length test of interest rates on inter-company loans. This case i about intercompany loans created by zero balancing cash pooling and the funding of group companies by a group finance company. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court states – If the terms of inter-company loans are not conforming to market conditions, then the payment qualifies as a distribution and a special reserve must be made in the balance sheet of the lender. The Court also states – It is questionable from the outset whether a participation in the cash pool, by which the participant disposes of its liquidity, can pass the market conditions test at all. Click here for translation ... Read more

Zero balancing/physical cash pooling involves a physical transfer of money from the accounts of individual group companies to the accounts of the group’s cash pooling company and risks can be considerable. Group companies participating ind the cash pool may loose there funds. Loans in the form of cash pool arrangements must be agreed at arm’s length terms. Click here for translation ... Read more

A loan was granted from a swiss company to its shareholder. The interest rate was fixed at 2,5%. This was found to be a hidden distribution of profit to the shareholder, cf Art. 58 al. 1 letter. b LIFD. Click here for English translation ... Read more

X was the principal shareholder and Chairman in the Insurance Agency, Y AG. In 2003, the company went bankrupt, with the bankruptcy proceedings suspended for lack of assets and the company was removed from the commercial register in September 2003. On 12 March 2007, the tax administration initiated a subsequent taxation proceedings against X concerning monetary benefits which it was supposed to have received from Y AG in the years 1997 to 2000. On 2 May 2012, the tax administration imposed an additional tax in the amount of CHF 39’056.20 including default interest. The appeal against this decision was rejected by the Tax Appeals Commission. Before the Federal Supreme Court, X appealed the decision. Excerp from the Federal Supreme Court ruling: “3.1 According to Art. 20 para. 1 lit.c DBG Income from movable assets, in particular dividends, profit shares, liquidation surpluses and non-cash benefits arising ... Read more

A finance company registered in Guernsey was found to have effective place of management in Switzerland due to lack of functional substance in Guernsey. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court stated that the effective place of management is to be distinguished from the activity of the Board of Directors and the General Assembly and from mere administrative activity, such as accounting. Thus, the effective place of management of a company is where the company has its economic center. Management of the ongoing business in the context of the purpose of the company is decisive, including the decisions made in relation to the core business. According to the Federal Supreme Court, the only business of X Ltd was forwarding the start-up capital provided by Y Holding AG in the form of loans to Group companies. X Ltd activities in Guernsey were of a purely administrative nature, and ... Read more

A company of a Swiss based group maintained a permanent establishment in the Cayman Islands for financing the domestic group companies. Whereas the group companies were able to deduct the interest payments from the taxable profit to their full extent, the interest income, for Swiss tax purposes, was allocated to the permanent establishment in the Cayman Islands, and therefore led to non-taxation of this interest income. By interpreting the legal term “foreign permanent establishment” the Federal Supreme Court concluded that the finance company in the Cayman Islands had only four employees and that such a lean structures was in contrast to the figures in the annual accounts. Therefore, it denied the allocation of interest income to the Cayman Islands for Swiss tax purposes. Click here for English translation ... Read more

In this ruling, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court comments on the application of the arm’s length principel and the burden of proff in Switzerland. “Services, which have their legal basis in the investment relationship, are to be offset against the taxable income of the company to the extent that they would otherwise not be granted to a third party under the same circumstances or not to the same extent and would not constitute a capital repayment. This rule of the so-called third-party comparison (or the principle of “dealing at arm’s length”) therefore requires that even legal transactions with equity holders or between Group companies be conducted on the same terms as would be agreed with external third parties on competitive and market conditions.” “Swiss Law – with the exception of individual provisions – does not have any actual group law and treats each company as ... Read more