Questão jurídica principal
Whether CHF 420,725,672 received and then transferred through foreign bank accounts constituted hidden profit distributions subject to withholding tax.
Decisão extraída
Yes. The company failed to prove a fiduciary or account-current relationship explaining the funds; the receipts were treated as company assets and the outgoing transfers as concealed distributions to shareholders or close persons.
Fundamentação extraída
The company received funds in its own name on its own accounts, did not disclose beneficiaries or commercial justification, and produced no convincing documents. Under Art. 39 LIA and the rules on prestations appréciables en argent, the tax authorities could impute the receipts and outgoing payments to the company.