Federal Administrative Court rules: radio and TV tariffs for companies are illegal!

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The Federal Administrative Court in St. Gallen has ruled that the current tariff structure violates the principle of legal equality because it disadvantages small businesses. Due to the degressive rate structure, smaller companies have to pay relatively more fees than large companies

For now, everything remains the same

However, for reasons of legal certainty and proportionality, the current rate will remain applicable until the next change to the scheme, the judges announced on Friday. The contributions for the 2021 corporate tax determined in the contested decisions therefore remain due.

However, the court recommends that the Federal Council consider a progressive or partially linear corporate tax design in the next review.

Four companies have filed a complaint against the fees charged by the Federal Tax Authorities (FTA). For the Federal Administrative Court, the decreasing rate structure means that smaller companies are exposed to a higher tax burden than companies with high turnover.

The decision can be appealed to the Federal Court.

Rates that were already complained about in 2019

According to the VAT law, the levy for companies is based on the total worldwide turnover declared to the FTA. Companies with a turnover of up to half a million francs are exempt from the tax.

For the other companies, the Federal Council introduced an 18-level tariff on January 1, 2021, after the previous tariff was ruled unconstitutional by the Federal Administrative Court in 2019. Furthermore, under current legislation, companies can join together and pay only one tax, provided that the group consists of at least thirty companies and they are under common management.

According to the ruling of the Federal Administrative Court, the formation of tax groups is also illegal and unconstitutional. On the one hand, there is no legal basis for this and on the other hand, the lower limit of thirty companies is arbitrary and only benefits a few companies.

Debate about cuts

A week ago, the Federal Council and Media Minister Albert Rösti (56) informed about a possible reduction in radio and TV taxes. The federal government wants to gradually reduce media fees from 365 francs to 300 francs per year by 2029.

In addition, from 2027, more than 60,000 companies will no longer have to pay. From now on, companies will only be liable to pay taxes if their annual turnover exceeds 1.2 billion francs. This would mean that approximately eighty percent of companies would be exempt from the tax.

The Federal Council’s proposal is a counterweight to the halving initiative, which he believes should be rejected. In its referendum, the initiative committee calls for radio and TV rates to be reduced to 200 francs per household per year. At the launch, the current Minister of Media, Rösti, was also part of the committee.

The Federal Council’s proposal does not take into account the ruling of the Federal Administrative Court, as announced by the Federal Office for Communications (Bakom) upon request. Bakom now wants to analyze the judgment together with the federal tax authorities before deciding how to proceed. (SDA/brother)

Source:Blick