In a judgment rendered on 5 October 2021 (case 2C_891/2020), the Swiss Federal Supreme Court upheld the decision by the Federal Administrative Court of 18 September 2020 (case A-7028/2018), which had found that the proceeds realized by a Swiss corporate VAT taxpayer from the resale of a position of its own stock (“treasury shares”) did not fall within the scope of Swiss VAT, i.e. constituted a “non-turnover”. Therefore, such proceeds are treated in the same fashion as the proceeds from a shareholder capital contribution received for the issuance of new shares. The VAT treatment as capital contribution (“out of scope” flow of funds) meant that the taxpayer’s ability to deduct input VAT suffered in connection with the re-sale of treasury shares remained unaffected.
Source: kluwertaxblog.com
