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The sale is decided. Then comes the call about your fixed-rate mortgage (Festhypothek) – and a figure from the bank that nobody explained beforehand. The bank calls it an early repayment charge (Vorfälligkeitsentschädigung). It can feel like a penalty for something you did not do wrong: selling earlier than your mortgage contract assumed. The obvious reaction is to accept the bank’s figure, because nobody else seems to know the formula. This page shows exactly that formula – with a worked example and the ways to reduce the charge.
| Figure | What it means |
|---|---|
| Formula A, linear | rate gap times outstanding balance times remaining term in years |
| Variant with discounting | same rate gap, discounted at the reinvestment rate |
| SNB policy rate | 0.00 per cent, in force since 20 June 2025 |
| Yield on Swiss Confederation bonds, 10 years | 0.566 per cent, as of 8 October 2026 – other rates apply for shorter remaining terms |
| No charge at all | if your fixed-rate mortgage runs until the sale date |
How is the early repayment charge calculated?
There is no legal formula.1 What counts is your mortgage contract and your bank’s terms. Raiffeisen, UBS and PostFinance all publicly describe the same basic principle, though no single industry rule exists.567
The bank compares your agreed rate with the rate it could newly earn on your balance for the remaining term. This is the rate gap. UBS and PostFinance multiply it, in their own examples, by the balance and the remaining term in years.67 Raiffeisen explains only the principle, without worked figures.5
Administrative or processing costs can be added on top; their level is set by your bank, not by law.7 The calculator above shows this linear formula and a discounted variant, as two guide figures side by side.
What this means for you: the calculator gives a guide figure for your bank conversation, not a quote. The actual statement, fees included, remains your bank’s own matter.
The charge is only one line in your calculation. What truly remains after tax, mortgage and selling costs is shown by the valuation with net calculation.
Prefer to talk? +41 76 325 11 95 – you speak directly with Dominik Devaja.
Can I deduct the early repayment charge from tax?
It depends on why the mortgage ends.34 If you end it because of the house sale, you cannot deduct the charge as loan interest from income tax.4 It only counts as loan interest if the same bank issues a new contract on changed terms4.
Instead, a deduction may be possible under property gains tax, your separate sale-profit tax.23 The Federal Supreme Court sets two conditions. The ending must be inseparably linked to the upcoming sale, with no new loan taken out anywhere. And you must have actually paid the charge yourself.3 You may not claim the same franc twice.3
The burden of proof sits with you: document your bank’s statement and its link to the sale date.3
What this means for you: discuss this deduction early with your tax office or accountant. What property gains tax otherwise comes to is shown by the calculator for your canton.
Worked example
Example: a 1.2 percentage-point rate gap on a balance of CHF 800,000.
Outstanding balance CHF 800,000, contract rate 1.8 per cent, remaining term 30 months, reinvestment rate 0.6 per cent, no fee.
- Rate gap: 1.8 per cent minus 0.6 per cent
- 1.2 percentage points
- Per year on CHF 800,000
- CHF 9,600
- Times remaining term: 30 months (2.5 years)
- × 2.5
- Formula A, linear
- CHF 24,000
- Variant with discounting
- CHF 23,815
How can the charge be avoided or reduced?
If your fixed-rate mortgage runs exactly until your sale date, no charge arises at all.6 This is the simplest route, though it rarely lines up that way.
The mortgage can also be transferred to the buyer, if your bank and the buyer agree.67 If it is pricier than current offers, a compensation payment is there to negotiate.6
Buying a new home at the same time lets you carry the mortgage over, with your bank’s consent. This takes some administration, since mortgage deeds (Schuldbriefe) must be transferred.67 What else applies to an inherited house, see selling an inherited house.
Practice on SARON mortgages, tied to the Swiss reference rate, is not uniform. Some banks still charge a fee for ending one early, usually a smaller one. Others charge a premium only when you switch to a different bank, not on a sale.68
What this means for you: clarify the transfer with your bank and the buyer before giving notice.
To be honest
Where does this calculator stop – and when is selling not even needed?
The formula here is an approximation for your conversation with the bank, not a quote. Neither the linear formula nor the variant with discounting is officially or contractually confirmed as binding.567 Your own mortgage contract remains what counts, fees included. The sale price you use for your own net calculation often comes from an estimate itself: hedonic valuation explained shows how banks and online tools arrive at it.
Sometimes the whole sale is not even needed. If your fixed-rate mortgage ends soon anyway, or the bank and the buyer agree to a transfer, the charge can be avoided. And sometimes staying or renting out is the better answer than selling: the home check: keep, adapt or sell helps you work out what suits you.
For daughters and sons
Researching this for your parents?
Often you read the bank’s statement before your parents do. Show them this page before anyone signs anything – not as a decision already made, but as the questions worth asking. That way, you stay the daughter or son who cares, not the one who decides.
What else do owners ask?
What is an early repayment charge?
What happens to the mortgage when you sell a house?
What happens if the formula shows a negative figure?
Then the reinvestment rate is higher than your contract rate. The calculator then shows CHF 0 as a guide figure and notes: depending on your contract, a credit in your favour is even possible6. Ask your bank about it.
Is a charge still due after a death?
This differs from bank to bank. Some lenders make an exception after a death, others still reserve the right to charge it.6 Your own contract decides.
Are my entries in the calculator saved?
No. The calculator runs in your browser, and your figures do not leave it by themselves. Only if you request a document below do we receive your contact details – not automatically your calculator entries.
What does the valuation with net figure cost?
Nothing. The valuation and the first conversation are free and without obligation – even if selling turns out not to be the right answer in the end.
What else can help you now?
- Property gains tax calculators: 15 cantonsHow does my canton calculate property gains tax – and which calculator fits?
- All calculatorsWhich calculator answers my question – selling or buying?
- Sell first or buy first?We are swapping the house for a flat – how do selling and buying fit together safely?
- Property valuation with net calculationWhat is my home worth – and what is left after tax and costs?
Sources
- Swiss Code of Obligations (Obligationenrecht), Articles 312–318, especially Article 318 (SR 220) · retrieved 08.10.2026
- Tax Harmonisation Act (Steuerharmonisierungsgesetz), Article 12(1) (SR 642.14) · retrieved 08.10.2026
- Federal Supreme Court: BGE 143 II 382 (ruling 2C_1148/2015 of 3 April 2017), in German · retrieved 08.10.2026
- Federal Supreme Court: BGE 143 II 396 (ruling 2C_1165/2014 / 2C_1166/2014 of 3 April 2017), in German · retrieved 08.10.2026
- Raiffeisen: product sheet on the early repayment charge, in German · as of 01/2007
- UBS: guide «Early repayment charge: costs, alternatives», in German · 17.06.2025
- PostFinance: blog «Early repayment charge on ending a mortgage early», in German · 23.02.2024
- Aargauische Kantonalbank: product sheet, AKB SARON mortgage, in German · retrieved 08.10.2026
- Swiss National Bank: current interest rates and exchange rates · 08.10.2026
General information without guarantee, not individual advice. The law, the tax assessment and advice from professionals for your situation are what count. Terms of use
