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What most people overlook: buying cheaply decades ago does not mean losing half the gain to tax. After 20 full years, tax takes at most 20 centimes (Rappen) per franc. Beyond 20 years, you need not even use the old purchase price.
| Rule | In the Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Tax rate | 10 % on the first CHF 4,000 of gain, rising in seven steps to 40 % above CHF 100,000 | Article 109(1) |
| Exemption threshold (Freigrenze) | Gains under CHF 4,000 are not taxed; from CHF 4,000, the whole gain counts | Article 109(4) |
| Short ownership | Under 3 years: plus 1 % for each month short of 3 years | Article 109(3) |
| Long ownership | From 5 full years minus 5 %, from 20 full years minus 50 % | Article 109(2) |
| Tax multiplier (Steuerfuss) | None: the same rates across the whole canton | Article 3(3) |
| New home | Tax deferred as far as the proceeds go into a new owner-occupied home in Switzerland within 3 years | Article 104 Tax Act, Article 41 Tax Ordinance |
Formula · Article 109 Tax Act
How is property gains tax calculated in Appenzell Innerrhoden?
Property gains tax in Appenzell Innerrhoden is calculated in three steps: gain, rates and years of ownership (Besitzdauer). The gain is the sale proceeds minus investment costs (Anlagekosten). These are the purchase price plus work that made the house worth more. The rates rise in seven steps: 10 % on the first CHF 4,000, 40 % above CHF 100,000.1
Then years of ownership take effect. Under three years, the tax rises by 1 % for each month short of three years. From five full years, it falls by 5 %, then 3 percentage points more each year. After 20 full years, it is halved (Article 109 Tax Act, as of 1 January 2024).
What this means for you: the same rates apply across the whole canton. There is no tax multiplier (Steuerfuss) from the district or municipality. So the calculator's figure is already the whole tax, as an estimate. If you are working it out for your parents, you bring a figure everyone can follow to the kitchen table.
At the kitchen table, a figure only counts once the sale price behind it has been checked. We check it, add your invoices and your mortgage, and show you in writing what you keep.
Investment costs · value 20 years ago
Which costs lower property gains tax in Appenzell Innerrhoden?
In Appenzell Innerrhoden, documented investments and selling costs lower the gain and thus property gains tax. Work that makes the house worth more counts, such as an extension. Maintenance such as repainting does not, nor does anything deducted for income tax. Agent's commission at the local rate and advertising costs come off the proceeds.1
Beyond 20 years, you need not even use the old purchase price. You may use the official market value (Verkehrswert) from 20 years ago, if higher. That is the authorities' valuation at the time. For a mainly residential home not valued as farmland, the Tax Administration (Steuerverwaltung) adds 30 % to the residential part's value (guidance note, March 2025).3
What this means for you: for a single-family house sold by 2039, a valuation of CHF 500,000 becomes CHF 650,000.2 The calculator adds it for you. After an inheritance, your parents' purchase usually counts: see selling an inherited house. Keep the contract, invoices and old valuation in order: every documented franc lowers the gain.
Worked example
Example: a CHF 200,000 gain after 25 years of ownership.
Sale price CHF 700,000, purchase price CHF 500,000, 25 full years of ownership, no investments and no selling costs. Enter these figures in the calculator and set the selling costs to 0 %: it shows the same tax.
- Sale price
- CHF 700,000
- Purchase price
- − CHF 500,000
- Property gain
- CHF 200,000
- Rates: CHF 29,400 on the first CHF 100,000, plus 40 % on the next CHF 100,000
- CHF 69,400
- Reduction for 25 full years of ownership: 50 %
- − CHF 34,700
- Property gains tax
- CHF 34,700
Replacement purchase · new home
When is property gains tax deferred in Appenzell Innerrhoden?
In Appenzell Innerrhoden, property gains tax is deferred if you sell your home and buy or build a new one in Switzerland. This is called a replacement purchase (Ersatzbeschaffung). The condition: you lived in the old home yourself, permanently and exclusively. And you live in the new one too.1
The Tax Ordinance (Steuerverordnung) allows three years after the sale, extendable if the purchase is delayed through no fault of yours. A purchase up to a year before counts too (Article 41 Tax Ordinance, as of 1 June 2024).2 Deferral covers only the proceeds put into the new home. As a rule, you apply after the move.3
What this means for you: deferred does not mean waived. If you move into a less expensive flat, you pay part or all of the tax now. If you later sell the new home, the years you owned the old one count too. If you pay first and buy later, the tax is refunded in full or in part, without interest.
To be honest
When does it pay to wait?
Just short of 20 years, the date decides: 19 full years bring a 47 % reduction, 20 full years 50 %. With the gain from the worked example, selling after 19 full years costs CHF 2,082 more than after 20. If you have owned the house for less than three years, you even pay a surcharge. On a CHF 100,000 gain, the tax is CHF 34,692 after 18 months and CHF 29,400 after 36 months.
After 20 full years, waiting brings no further reduction. Then other questions count: where will you live next, and do you need the money at all? If keeping the house is better for you, we will tell you, even after the free valuation. For a first sense of direction, try the home check: keep, adapt or sell.
Appenzell Innerrhoden property gains tax: what do owners ask most often?
How much property gains tax do you pay in Appenzell Innerrhoden?
CHF 29,400 on a CHF 100,000 gain, at the standard rates. After 20 full years of ownership it is half; after three or four years, the full amount. If you have owned the property for less than three years, you pay a surcharge.1 The calculator for Appenzell Innerrhoden shows your own figure; for a house in another canton, use the overview of cantonal calculators.
Is there an exemption threshold (Freigrenze) for property gains tax in Appenzell Innerrhoden?
Yes. Gains under CHF 4,000 are not taxed. From CHF 4,000, however, the whole gain counts, not just the part above it. So a CHF 5,000 gain after five full years costs CHF 522.50 (Article 109(4) Tax Act).
The Tax Administration's official calculator shows a tax even below CHF 4,000.4 The law is what counts, and our calculator follows it.
What other costs arise when you sell a house in Appenzell Innerrhoden?
1 % of the purchase price is due as transfer tax (Handänderungssteuer), the tax on the change of ownership. The buyer owes it, and the seller is jointly liable (Articles 116 to 119 Tax Act).
Notarisation (Beurkundung) means the official signing of the purchase contract. It costs 0.1 % of the price, at least CHF 60. Entry in the land register (Grundbuch), the official record of who owns a property, also costs 0.1 %, at least CHF 100.5 Only the official notary's office (Amtsnotariat) of the Land Registry and Inheritance Office (Grundbuch- und Erbschaftsamt) in Appenzell may notarise.6
Is the result of the Appenzell Innerrhoden calculator binding?
No. It is a guide figure under Article 109 Tax Act, not a tax assessment. The formula is the canton's; the figures are your own estimates. Besides the tax, the calculator deducts selling costs and mortgage from the sale price and shows what is likely to reach your account.
Unlike the official calculator, ours adds the 30 % surcharge on the old market value that the guidance note sets out.4 This applies to a house mainly lived in, not valued as farmland, and sold by 2039.3
Like the official calculator, ours rounds the gain down to the nearest CHF 100. There is no legal basis for this, and the Tax Administration has not yet confirmed it. What counts is the tax assessment (Veranlagung), the Cantonal Tax Administration's decision on your tax.
Do you also sell houses in the Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden?
Yes, one example from our work. Sold: two-family house on a building lease (Baurecht), Appenzell Innerrhoden (2026). It was a complicated case (building lease, a parish right of first refusal), completed cleanly at the second attempt after the first buyer fell through.
Immosmile's office is at Bahnhofplatz 1 in Zurich. From the first conversation to the notarisation, you deal with Dominik Devaja, managing director. The valuation with net calculation is free and without obligation, even if our recommendation in the end is «keep it».
Are my entries in the Appenzell Innerrhoden calculator stored?
No. The calculator works in your browser; your figures go neither to us nor to anyone else. We only receive details once you send a form yourself, and only what you enter there. We do not sell them or pass them on to other agents or property portals.
Sources
- Tax Act of the Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden (Steuergesetz, GS 640.000), Articles 3, 103–109, 116–120, 142, 160, in German · as of 1 January 2024, accessed 29 September 2026
- Tax Ordinance of the Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden (Steuerverordnung, GS 640.010), Article 7(3) (earlier version until 2019, transitional rule Article 58bis) and Article 41, in German · as of 1 June 2024, accessed 29 September 2026
- Guidance note «Kalkulator Grundstückgewinnsteuer» of the Cantonal Tax Administration (Kantonale Steuerverwaltung), in German · as of 18 March 2025
- Official property gains tax calculator of the Appenzell Innerrhoden Tax Administration, in German · version of February 2026, checked 29 September 2026
- Fee Schedule of the Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden (Gebührentarif, GS 172.513), Articles 11 and 14, in German · as of 1 January 2026, accessed 29 September 2026
- Land Registry and Inheritance Office Appenzell (Grundbuch- und Erbschaftsamt): notarisations (Beurkundungen), in German · accessed 29 September 2026
General information, not individual advice. The law, the tax assessment and advice from professionals for your situation are what count.
