You're paying too much tax and complaining about it? What if your taxes were zero?

Taxpayers are automatically assessed a first time, a second time, a third time, and then file the tax returns for the last two tax periods that have already been assessed. The tax authorities consider the tax returns as out-of-time claims and reject them. The taxpayers maintain their position, stating that the automatic assessments were void. The tax authorities do not budge.

The cantonal judges dismiss the taxpayers' appeal: move along, there's nothing to see here.

Federal judges note that cantonal judges are well-acquainted with case law on the nullity of official tax assessments. As a reminder, «a decision of official tax assessment must be considered null if, in addition to a qualified inaccuracy in the content of said decision, there is a serious breach of procedural law».

The appellants challenge the cantonal judges' assessment of the facts. The Federal Judges refer to the cantonal judgment, which elaborates on these points whilst noting that the appellants put forward their own position without demonstrating how the cantonal judges had acted arbitrarily.

Regarding the substantive defect, namely a deliberately arbitrary tax assessment, the tax authorities noted that one of the spouses had become the sole director of three public limited companies, in addition to those of which he was already a director, and concluded that the taxpayers' income would have increased. Finally, the fact of not being registered with the VAT authorities for the independent lucrative activity is irrelevant, given that VAT follows the principle of self-assessment, so that the absence of registration in the VAT payers' register does not mean that the turnover is in all cases below the threshold for liability.

The ruling is in French. This is a Vaudois case.

TF, judgment 9C_182/2025, of 12 August 2025