They must stop this tax on imaginary rent before they invent similar taxes for cars, boats, caravans &&&&
Not what is says in the referendum text.
Morgate interest will no longer be deductible for taxes, except for cases where properties are rented out and even then limited to the part (ratio) the property represents to the whole fortune of the person.
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This nonsense, the idea was never to arbitrarily tax assets. As you know Switzerland is a low tax country.
The idea with imaginary rent as you call it was (among others) to uniformize all properties : rented out or not, they were all treated similarly. The tax authorities expect to see 12 months of “income”, real or notional. Automatically eliminates need to check if a property is rented out “cash in hand” and the incentive of some landloards to be illegal.
To me the principle is very good, the problem is the implementation (calculation formula), which led to pensioners facing high bills etc. There is also huge differences in how each canton caclulates virtual rent.
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I’d rather say it’s an “invented excuse”. The tax was added “temporarily” to collect additional money, as simple as that
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Yes, in 1915 it was a one-off war tax.
and actually, the excuse is totally absurd, as no one would rent a place at Swiss price without registering there, quite the contrary, many people would like to register in Switzerland without living there (bonus points, without actually paying the rent)
Can one use it to reduce taxes over multiple years to benefit more from the reduced tax progression?
Your Canton may vary but in Vaud you can only deduct payments made in the calendar year. However many suppliers are prepared to split the bill and invoice you in December and January.
Yes, that is a common tactic. I know some high earners who split renovation over many years to reduce their marginal tax rate.
Has anyone fantasized yet, if the imputed rental value tax is abolished, how the housing market may or may not be affected?
I wouldn’t think it would make much difference in the housing market short term - the main issue in CH being lack of available properties and insane demand. It doesn’t affect much neither affordability or demand.
Longer term though I feel it will have an impact on the quality of housing - as owners will be less incentivised towards maintenance and improvements compared to repaying the mortgage. So we will see the quality of the housing go down. We will also see a decline generally in the economy as tradesmen get less work, that in the end could impact the house prices long term - with lower growth at least
Just my 2p
One data point does not a trend make, but…
A friend is selling her house, which is in need of a total renovation. Ideally (emotionally) she wanted to sell to a young family, and had an offer for a little over the asking price within hours of listing it. But the would-be buyers have now pulled their offer, saying they need to wait until after the vote because it could affect whether they can afford the extensive renovation.
(Which given the glacial pace of implementation one expects with any change to a law doesn’t really make sense, but house purchase is often an overly-emotional thing.)
My friend needs to sell quickly, so she will now do the one thing she had hoped to avoid - selling to a developer who will tear the house down and put up a block of luxury flats.
Not sure what that says about the housing market, if anything…
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So far, I’ve seen this: rent for single house with garden = 4’000 francs, rent for “luxury flat” = 2’500 francs. Where’s the luxury?
Steuerparadis Ausserschwyz, with a gorgeous lake view.
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Yes, this is odd. Even if the vote succeeds, it would be at least a year or so until the law is implemented. So if they were to renovate in 2026, the deduction would still count.Unless they don’t think they’ll renovate until they save more money.
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Ha, not physically 
In Aargau I’ve also heard plenty of talk about “luxury apartments” when the smaller apartments are cheaper to buy and rent than single houses with gardens.
I fail to understand why the single house is perceived as “modest” while the apartments are “luxurious”. Maybe I need to use more Aromat while cooking.
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I think it really depends on how the banks react. If they ease the rules on mortgages and/or become more flexible on second mortgages etc.
What is the logic of capping lending at 80% in a seller’s market? Or calculating ability to pay at a 3% interest rate that hasn’t actually been seen for many years.
It would be nice if the courts decided these ‘understandings’ between all the banks were anti-competitive.
Because that’s what the marketing wants to make you believe. Repeat a message long enough and..
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Are you confusing marketing copy with reality? 
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haha, it’s not marketing. I listen to this while dining with friends, at the coffee shop, etc. People that own and live in the houses with garden see themselves as living modestly and have the gall to call the apartments luxurious.