Tax offices have to accept the approved expense regulations

An employee whose deductions for travel expenses were rejected by the tax office appeared before the Federal Supreme Court.

This concerned a lump-sum expense allowance that had been paid out on the basis of an expense regulation. The expense regulations had been approved by the Canton of Geneva. The tax office at his place of residence questioned whether the employee had actually travelled the kilometres corresponding to the lump-sum compensation.

The Federal Supreme Court ruled that the approval of an expense regulation by the tax authority of the canton in which the employer is domiciled must be recognized by all cantons and is binding for them. Thus, the tax authority is not entitled to check the reasonableness of the amount, but may only check whether the amount of the expenses paid corresponds to the amount of the lump-sum expenses provided for in the expense regulations. (Source: BGE 2C_804/2012 dated 14.10.2022)