Federal Decree on Cantonal Property Taxes on Second Homes
On 28 September 2025, the people of Switzerland accepted the special property tax.
Results
Summary
If you own a property and use it yourself, you must pay income tax on what is known as the imputed rental value (Eigenmietwert). In return, you can deduct your mortgage interest and maintenance costs from your taxable income. Parliament has passed an amendment to the law that abolishes the taxation of the imputed rental value and restricts the options for making deductions. This applies to both main homes and second homes. At the same time, Parliament has passed an amendment to the Constitution that allows the cantons to introduce a special property tax on second homes.
As amendments to the Constitution must be approved by the people and the cantons, there will be a vote on this special property tax. The abolition of tax on the imputed rental value is legally linked to the constitutional amendment, so the entire reform depends on the outcome of the vote: if the special property tax is rejected, people will continue to be taxed on the
imputed rental value of their properties. The reform will affect the amount of tax paid by homeowners and thus the revenues of the Confederation, cantons and communes. Whether there is an increase or decrease in revenues largely depends on the mortgage interest rates. In the case of second homes, it also depends on whether and how the cantons implement the special property tax. In particular, cantons with high levels of tourism may need to compensate for a reduction in revenue from second homes.
