Radio and TV fee tariffs for companies unconstitutional
Published: Friday, Dec 20th 2024, 15:00
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The corporate tax for radio and television should be based on economic performance. The fact that the tax burden for small companies is relatively greater than for large companies is unconstitutional according to the Federal Supreme Court.
In the ruling published on Friday, the judges in Lausanne confirmed an earlier decision by the Federal Administrative Court. Around a year ago, following an appeal by a company, the court ruled that the degressive tariff structure did not comply with the constitution. It recommended to the Federal Council that the company levy should be progressive or linear.
The Federal Supreme Court also rejects the appeal by the company and the Federal Tax Administration. It first states that the radio and television levy for companies, like that for private households, is a special-purpose tax.
The degressive structure of the tax structure for companies, which is graduated according to turnover, violates the principle of equal taxation in accordance with Article 127 of the Federal Constitution. In addition, the various tariff levels are not in any reasonable proportion to each other when considering the system as a whole.
Tariffs remain unchanged for the time being
Furthermore, the Federal Supreme Court, like the Federal Administrative Court before it, came to the conclusion that, for reasons of legal certainty, the current tariffs remain applicable until the next amendment to the ordinance. First of all, the Federal Supreme Court points out that it does not have the authority to set the tariffs itself until the Federal Council acts.
In addition, the abolition of the corporate fee would limit the possibilities of satisfactorily fulfilling the important tasks associated with the production and broadcasting of radio and television programme services. Furthermore, the absolute deviations in the tariff structure are relatively small, especially in the lower areas of the scale.
Depending on turnover
In Switzerland, not only private households but also companies with a turnover of more than half a million francs per year pay a fee for radio and TV. The Federal Council redefined the rates for companies in the Radio and Television Ordinance at the beginning of 2021 in 18 revenue-based tiers.
The tariffs range from 160 francs (turnover of 500,000 to 749,000 francs) to just under 50,000 francs (turnover of 1 billion francs or more).
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