Questione giuridica chiave
Whether contributions paid by a self-employed taxpayer to a foreign occupational pension institution are deductible from taxable income.
Decisione estratta
No. For self-employed persons, deductible occupational pension contributions require a BVG-recognized voluntary collective pension arrangement; foreign institutions not subject to BVG do not qualify.
Motivazione estratta
The court held that the relevant statutory scheme limits deductible second-pillar contributions to arrangements under Art. 44 BVG and related provisions. The German institution was neither the taxpayer’s staff pension fund, a professional association fund in the required sense, nor a substitute institution under Swiss law. The court rejected reliance on equivalence, trust, and possible future taxation of benefits as insufficient to override the statutory framework.