Investing in Swiss property: canton, Lex Koller, exit
Why the canton settles your tax bill before the property does: gains tax by holding period, transfer tax, and whether a non-resident may buy at all.
Updated on 11 August 2026.
Why you pick the canton before the property
In Switzerland the canton sets almost your entire tax burden. Zürich has charged no transfer tax since 2005, while Neuchâtel charges 3.3%. Gains tax at sale runs from 2% to 50%, depending on the canton and on how long you held. Two identical buildings in two cantons are two different investments.
Lex Koller: can a non-resident buy at all?
Lex Koller has restricted foreign purchases of Swiss residential property since 1983. Without Swiss residence you may not in principle acquire housing. A permit exists, but it applies mainly to holiday homes in designated tourist municipalities, under an annual quota.
Hold a Swiss B or C residence permit and you may buy your own home without a permit. Commercial property sits outside Lex Koller entirely, and that is the opening most investors use. It is also exactly where the Federal Council wants to tighten the rules.
| Rule | Position at 3 August 2026 |
|---|---|
| Residential without Swiss residence | Permit required, usually refused |
| Holiday home in a designated municipality | Permit within a quota |
| Own home on a B or C permit | Allowed without a permit |
| Commercial property | Currently permit free |
| Federal Council proposal, consultation closed 15 July 2026 | Investment in commercial property would also need a permit |
Lex Weber separately caps second homes at 20% of the housing stock per municipality. Where a municipality is already above that share, a building permit for a new second home no longer has room.
Handänderungssteuer: seven cantons charge nothing
Handänderungssteuer is the Swiss transfer tax, and seven cantons have abolished it. There you pay only a land register charge of a few tenths of a percent. Elsewhere it runs up to 3.3%. The buyer usually carries it, although in many cantons the parties may agree otherwise.
| Canton | Rate (2026) | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Zürich, Zug, Schwyz | 0% | Land register and notary only |
| Ticino | 1.1% | Registration charge, official band 0.1-1.3% (2026), not a true tax |
| Luzern | 1.5% | CHF 27,750 on CHF 1,850,000 |
| Bern | 1.8% | Also the national fallback in the tool |
| Vaud | 3.3% | 2.2% cantonal plus up to 1.1% communal, CHF 61,050 on CHF 1,850,000 |
| Genève, Basel-Stadt | 3.0% | Reduced rates exist but are not in the tool |
| Neuchâtel | 3.3% | Level with Vaud at the top of the series |
Notary and land register sit on top. BRIX Calc applies 0.25% for the notary and 0.15% for the land register, both as flat percentages of the price. Agency commission is not included, because in Switzerland the seller engages and pays the agent.
On those percentages, total acquisition cost is 0.4% in Zürich against 3.4% in Geneva. Actual notary charges vary by canton, so treat both as a floor. Either way the money in a Swiss deal is not made or lost at the notary. It is made or lost at the exit.
Grundstückgewinnsteuer: the rate falls with your holding period
Grundstückgewinnsteuer is a cantonal tax on your land gain at sale, and the rate falls the longer you have held. That is a different mechanism from an annual wealth tax, which does not care about duration at all.
The consequence for strategy is large. A flip inside two years meets 50% in Geneva; after ten years the same gain sits at 10%. Cantons tax short-term speculation heavily on purpose, and reward long holds.
| Canton | At 1 year | At 3 years | At 12 years | At 25 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genève | 50% | 40% | 10% | 2% |
| Vaud | 27% | 22% | 13% | 7% |
| Ticino | 30% | 28% | about 21% | about 9% |
| Basel-Stadt | 60% | 60% | about 27% | about 12% |
Curves as at 3 August 2026 from the BRIX Calc Swiss ruleset. For the other cantons the tool applies one national holding-period factor: a 50% surcharge below one year, and a discount from year five rising to half.
Value-adding or value-maintaining: which build costs you may deduct
Switzerland splits your build costs in two. Value-adding spending raises the value permanently, such as an extension, a roof conversion or a change of use. It counts towards your Anlagekosten and so reduces your taxable land gain. Value-maintaining work, such as painting or replacing a boiler, does not.
There is no statutory percentage for that split. BRIX Calc sets a default you can override: 85% for a conversion and 65% for a rental refurbishment. A conversion from offices to flats is mostly value-adding; a refurbishment sits somewhere in between.
Keep every invoice, and describe the work in terms the tax office uses. The example below shows what twenty percentage points of split are worth: CHF 20,800 on one sale. That is a documentation problem, not a tax planning one.
Worked example: a CHF 1,850,000 building in Geneva
A two-unit residential building in canton Genève, refurbished for letting at a cost of CHF 260,000, of which 65% counts as value-adding. Net sale proceeds after the selling agent: CHF 2,480,000.
| Item | Amount | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | CHF 1,850,000 | Base for every acquisition cost |
| Handänderungssteuer Genève 3.0% (2026) | CHF 55,500 | Counts towards Anlagekosten |
| Notary 0.25% and land register 0.15% | CHF 7,400 | Flat percentages in the tool |
| Value-adding share of build costs, 65% | CHF 169,000 | CHF 91,000 does not count |
| Anlagekosten | CHF 2,081,900 | What you deduct from the proceeds |
| Taxable land gain | CHF 398,100 | Proceeds less Anlagekosten |
gains tax after 3 years = 40% × CHF 398,100 = CHF 159,240
| Scenario | Gains tax | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Sell after 3 years, Geneva at 40% | CHF 159,240 | 40% of your gain leaves at exit |
| Sell after 12 years, Geneva at 10% | CHF 39,810 | Holding nine years longer saves CHF 119,430 |
| Value-adding share at 85%, sold at 3 years | CHF 138,440 | The split alone is worth CHF 20,800 |
That first pair is why a Swiss case without a holding period is not a case. Model the exit tax as a separate item, keep your gross profit intact, and read the net figure after it. Check the loan-to-value your lender will work to, or compare Switzerland with six other markets in international property investment.
Eigenmietwert: the imputed rent that ends in 2029
Eigenmietwert is Swiss and exists nowhere else in this form. An owner-occupier adds a notional rent to taxable income, then deducts mortgage interest and maintenance from it. The system rewards carrying debt and penalises paying it down.
On 28 September 2025, 57.7% of Swiss voters backed abolition. In exchange, mortgage interest relief and most maintenance deductions disappear. The Federal Council has set 1 January 2029 as the start date.
For a let investment property little changes, because you are taxed on the rent you actually receive. For a second home you use yourself, a great deal changes. BRIX Calc calculates no Eigenmietwert; it works from your actual rental income.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreigner buy residential property in Switzerland?
Usually not without Swiss residence. Lex Koller requires a permit for residential property, and cantons grant it mainly for holiday homes in designated municipalities within an annual quota. With a B or C residence permit you may buy your own home. Commercial property currently sits outside the regime.
How much Grundstückgewinnsteuer will I pay at sale?
It depends on your canton, your holding period and your land gain. In Vaud the rate runs from 30% below one year to 7% from 24 years (2026). Geneva starts at 50% and falls to 2% after 25 years. Short flips are expensive by design.
What counts as value-adding rather than value-maintaining?
Value-adding spending raises the property's value permanently and reduces your taxable land gain: an extension, a roof conversion, a change of use. Value-maintaining work keeps the building at its existing standard and does not count. BRIX Calc defaults to 85% on a conversion and 65% on a rental refurbishment.
When exactly does Eigenmietwert disappear?
Swiss voters approved abolition on 28 September 2025 with 57.7% in favour, and the Federal Council put the change into force from 1 January 2029. Until then the notional rent stays, together with the interest and maintenance deductions that largely fall away afterwards.