Bern dentist lacks understanding "You have the right not to pay taxes"
A dentist does not want to pay taxes and social security contributions and has been ignoring state invoices for 15 years. Now the dentist from Bern has been declared bankrupt. But he still doesn't see reason.
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- A dentist from Bern has left federal, cantonal and compensation fund bills unpaid for years.
- He has "the right not to pay taxes", says the 64-year-old.
- The court sees it differently and imposes bankruptcy on the man, who nevertheless remains unconvinced.
"You have the right not to pay taxes": a dentist from Bern refused to pay taxes for 15 years. He also hid six million francs in his daughters' accounts. The man was sentenced to a conditional prison sentence and his appeal against the verdict at the higher court was rejected.
However, the dentist apparently remains unconvinced: as mentioned at the beginning, he has the right not to pay his taxes. He argues to the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper that these are not a debt under the Swiss Code of Obligations and leaves federal, cantonal and compensation fund bills unpaid. Even if the 64-year-old's arguments sound similar, he told the Tages-Anzeiger that he does not want to be a state denier.
The dentist has since closed his practice. Although he has paid wages and supplier invoices, he has not fulfilled his obligations to the state. He owes 485,000 francs to the doctors' compensation fund.
Even the bankruptcy does nothing to change his attitude
Bankruptcy proceedings have now been initiated against the dentist, who merely handed over a letter to Roscher at the hearing and left the courtroom immediately.
The bankruptcy proceedings, although not yet legally binding, mean that the man can no longer freely dispose of his assets. Accounts are frozen and assets confiscated. According to the case files, the man had already withdrawn around CHF 2.8 million in cash ten years ago.
The dentist intends to stick to his stance of not having to pay taxes. Even though there is not even a theoretical legal loophole to avoid paying tax, as Adriano Marantelli, tax law expert at the University of Bern, says in the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper. It is true that the Code of Obligations mentioned by the dentist does not actually mention a tax liability. However, the federal law and the tax law of the canton of Bern do.
