Swiss Federal Supreme Court, 02.04.2026, 9C_120/2026
Facts
A taxpayer from Schwyz challenged tax assessments for the 2010 and 2013–2016 tax periods regarding direct federal tax as well as cantonal and municipal taxes.
The tax authority issued decisions on objections on October 18, 2022. These were sent via A-Post Plus to the address provided by the taxpayer, a P.O. box in Sennwald. According to postal tracking, the decisions were delivered on November 10, 2022.
The taxpayer did not appeal within the deadline. The tax authority therefore considered the decisions to be final and binding. It subsequently issued documents titled "rectified tax assessments," which repeated the exact tax amounts and factors from the decisions on objections.
The taxpayer attempted to challenge these new documents. The cantonal authorities refused to consider the appeal, ruling that these were not new tax assessments but merely collection notices based on decisions that were already final.
Legal Analysis
The Federal Supreme Court reiterates that a notification is valid once a decision enters the recipient's sphere of control, allowing them the opportunity to take note of it.
Sending via A-Post Plus, with a delivery confirmation in the postal tracking system, creates a natural presumption of proper notification. This presumption can be rebutted, but only with concrete evidence of an error. Mere hypotheses of misdelivery are insufficient.
The Federal Supreme Court also reiterates the distinction between:
- assessment, which definitively establishes the tax factors and the amount of tax due;
- collection, which is intended solely to recover the tax already established.
A final tax invoice or a statement issued after a decision has become binding does not allow for the assessment to be challenged. The taxpayer can no longer dispute the tax amount, except in specific cases such as nullity, lack of valid notification, or a defect inherent to the execution.
Application to the case
The taxpayer argued that the decisions of October 18, 2022, had not been validly notified, noting in particular that he was incarcerated at the time and that the mail might not have reached him.
The Federal Supreme Court rejects this argument. The decisions were sent to the address he himself had provided, and postal tracking confirms their delivery. The taxpayer provides no concrete evidence demonstrating a notification error. The decisions on objections are therefore final and binding.
The subsequent documents labeled "rectified tax assessments" did not modify the tax factors. They repeated the exact amounts already established. Their title was therefore not decisive: legally, they were final tax invoices related to collection, not new tax assessments. The taxpayer could not use them to reopen the tax proceedings.
Outcome
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the appeal to the extent that it is admissible.
It confirms that the decisions on the objection were validly notified and have become final.
It also confirms that subsequent tax invoices did not allow for the taxation to be challenged again.
Legal aid is denied, as the appeal had no prospect of success. The court costs of CHF 3,000 are to be borne by the taxpayer.
Silex tax newsletter published in collaboration with Anna Vladau, Attorney at Law
