Property tax in Switzerland
See what Switzerland's tax rules do to your property portfolio.
What Freeholt models for property, income and retirement in Switzerland, and what it does not.
Free to start. No card. Rules reviewed 12 July 2026.
Modelled here
- Tax on rental income
- Capital gains on a sale
- Duty on purchase (approximate)
- Annual property or land tax
CHF · Rates as at 12 July 2026 · Estimates, not advice
Rental income is taxed as ordinary income at combined federal, cantonal and communal rates, with the cantonal component dominating and varying hugely between cantons. A representative combined scale is used here, so any particular canton will differ materially. The Eigenmietwert imputed rental value an owner occupier is taxed on is NOT modelled. Property capital gains are a CANTONAL property gains tax, approximated here as a representative ~30% flat rate that tapers with the holding period; the taper is representative rather than any one canton's, and the short hold speculation surcharge several cantons levy is NOT modelled. Switzerland allocates foreign immovable property abroad, so a Swiss resident's foreign rent and gains are not topped up here.
How rental income is taxed in Switzerland
For a resident owner: Progressive rates from 5% to 36%, stacked on other income in this country. The top rate of 36% applies above CHF 200,000. For an owner living abroad and renting this out: Progressive rates from 5% to 36%, stacked on other income in this country. The top rate of 36% applies above CHF 200,000.
Interest and losses
Mortgage interest is deductible against the rent. A rental loss is ring fenced: it carries forward against future rental income rather than reducing other income now.
Capital gains on a sale
Gains are taxed at a flat 30%. A holding period taper reduces the taxable gain year by year, so the date of sale matters as much as the price.
Annual property tax while holding
About 0.05% a year on the property value.
What it costs to buy
Freeholt estimates this at 1.5% of the price. That is an average rather than the published rule, which is not modelled here yet. The Handänderungssteuer (property transfer tax) is CANTONAL at roughly 1 to 3.3%, and several cantons including Zürich levy none at all, so the 1.5% used here is an indicative national middle rather than any particular canton's rate; notary and land registry fees of about 0.5% are on top. THE ANNUAL PROPERTY TAX IS MODELLED, at a flat 0.05% of market value a year, and that figure is a national blend rather than anybody's actual rate. The tax is the Liegenschaftssteuer, and THIRTEEN CANTONS DO NOT LEVY IT ON A PRIVATE OWNER AT ALL: Zürich, Luzern, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Glarus, Zug, Solothurn, Basel Landschaft, Schaffhausen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Aargau. Where it is charged the ceilings run from 0.2 to 3 per mille of an administrative value that is usually set below the market price. So this line is too high for a purchase in Zürich or Zug and can be too low elsewhere; the canton decides it. The cantonal and communal WEALTH tax on net assets, which includes property, is NOT modelled and is a separate recurring bill. Lex Koller restricts foreign purchase: a non resident foreign national is generally prohibited from buying Swiss residential property, an EU/EFTA national with a C settlement permit has the same rights as a Swiss citizen, a B permit holder may buy ONE property for their own personal use only, and about 1,500 cantonal holiday home permits a year are issued nationwide, capped at 200m² and only in designated tourist zones.
Can a foreign buyer purchase here?
A foreign buyer needs approval before purchasing. Lex Koller restricts foreign (non resident) purchase of residential property. Permits are quota limited holiday homes in designated cantons; a foreigner resident in Switzerland may buy their own main home. Commercial property is unrestricted.
A territorial system
Switzerland taxes income arising here, not worldwide income, so property held in other countries is generally outside its net. That makes the country of residence a bigger lever than usual.
How Freeholt models Switzerland
Every rate above is priced from Freeholt's own table for Switzerland and runs through the whole projection: rental income, a modelled sale and the annual holding costs all use the same figures. They cannot be edited yet, so a position that differs from the defaults has to be read with that in mind. The estimate assumes an individual owner rather than a company or trust, and where a rule is not modelled it is listed below rather than quietly priced at zero.
What running this property costs
In Switzerland this covers building maintenance reserves (the market's own rule of thumb is about 1% of property value a year), Nebenkosten (the ancillary building costs of heating, common areas and the caretaker), insurance, the Liegenschaftssteuer where the canton or commune levies one, and, for an owner occupier only and not for a rented out investment, the Eigenmietwert imputed rental value tax charge, which is due to be abolished from 1 January 2029.
How borrowing works here
SWISS MORTGAGES NORMALLY HAVE NO FULL PAYOFF DATE, so the 15 year term shown here is not one: it is the window in which only the SECOND mortgage (the portion above about two thirds of value, up to the ~80% LTV ceiling) must amortise back down to two thirds, directly or indirectly through a pledged pillar 3a product. The FIRST mortgage, the larger tranche, is commonly carried indefinitely on an interest only basis and repriced periodically rather than repaid. Affordability is stress tested on an imputed cost basis (a notional ~5% rate plus 1%/yr amortisation plus 1%/yr maintenance, generally capped at a third of gross income), and Lex Koller bars most non resident foreign nationals from buying Swiss residential property outright.
What actually happened here
This country's own record, one year at a time. Nothing on this page is borrowed from another country. Move across a chart to read a year.
Variable rate mortgages only. Most borrowers here hold a fixed rate, and pay something else.
Recent rule changes in Switzerland
- A Lex Koller tightening (further limits on foreign residential purchase) was in consultation to 15 Jul 2026. PROPOSED, unlikely before 2028; not computed.(proposed only, never priced into your figures)
What Freeholt models here
- ModelledTax on rental income
- Resident and non resident rates, with interest and losses treated under the local rule.
- ModelledCapital gains on a sale
- Priced in the year of the sale under the rules of that year.
- ApproximateDuty on purchase
- Carried as one national average rather than the published scale, which differs by band and often by region.
- ModelledAnnual property or land tax
- Charged every year the property is held.
- Not yetIncome tax beyond the rent
- Not modelled for this country yet.
- Not yetDividends, interest and share sales
- Not modelled for this country yet.
- Not yetRetirement savings
- Not modelled for this country yet.
- Not yetInheritance and what happens on death
- Not modelled for this country yet.
What Freeholt does not model here
- Inheritance and estate tax
- Treaty relief between this country and the owner's country of residence
Coverage deepens country by country. Every figure is an estimate, not advice.
Compare with another country
Each page is built from the same table the app runs on, so the figures line up side by side.
Compare Switzerland with another country — rent, gains, annual tax and duty, side by side.
Questions people ask
- Does Freeholt model Switzerland property tax?
- Yes. Rental income tax, capital gains on a sale, duty on purchase and annual property or land tax are priced from Freeholt's own rate table for Switzerland. Duty on purchase carries a simplification that the page names beside the figure. The rates are not editable yet, so one that differs in a particular case cannot be overridden. Every figure is an estimate, not advice.
- How is rental income from Switzerland taxed if I live somewhere else?
- Progressive rates from 5% to 36%, stacked on other income in this country. The top rate of 36% applies above CHF 200,000. Tax may also be due in the country of residence, with credit for what was paid here. Estimates only, not advice.
- What are the Switzerland figures as at?
- The rate table for Switzerland was last reviewed on 12 July 2026. Freeholt date stamps every country rather than implying all of them were checked on the same day. Estimates only, not advice.
Model a property in Switzerland alongside everything else you own: see the year your portfolio starts paying you back.