6. Februar 2024 – Walder Wyss successfully represented a company member of the Swiss Commodity Trading Association, Suissenégoce, in an appeal to the Federal Administrative Tribunal.

In a ruling published on November 17, 2023, the Federal Administrative Tribunal confirmed that the Radio and Television Fee actually qualifies as a tax. As such, the fee structure must thus respect the constitutional principles of equal treatment and ability to pay.

In this regard, the Court ruled that the Ordinance on Radio and Television is contrary to these two principles and therefore violate the federal Constitution.

However, for reasons of legal certainty and proportionality, the Court refused to overrule the challenged decision despite its unconstitutionality.

The case is being brought before the Federal Tribunal by both the appellant company and the Federal Tax Administration.

The team was led by Fouad G. Sayegh (Partner/Tax) and Yacine Rezki (Managing Associate/Tax) and further included Tobias Phan and Benjamin Malek (Trainee Lawyer).