Selling in Ausserrhoden: one tax rate, and your purchase date counts.

30 per cent of the gain, across the canton, with no municipal tax multiplier. For each full year owned after the tenth, it falls by 2.5 per cent. After 15 full years that is 12.5 per cent less, after 30 years half. Under four years owned, a surcharge is added (Article 133, Tax Act of the Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden).

No, as long as the gain is below CHF 3,000. This is an exemption limit (Freigrenze): from CHF 3,000, the entire gain is taxed, not just the part above it. The taxable gain is rounded down to the next full CHF 500 (Article 133(5), Tax Act of the Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden).

Yes, insofar as the proceeds go into a new Swiss home you live in yourself. You must have lived in the old house or flat yourself, permanently and exclusively, usually for at least a year. The purchase may come up to a year before or three years after the sale (Article 124 Tax Act, Article 52 Tax Ordinance). Moving from a detached house to a flat you own counts as the same use.

An example from the tax administration: sale for CHF 500,000, investment costs 400,000, new home 430,000. Of the CHF 100,000 gain, 30,000 stays deferred and 70,000 is taxed.

Yes, at most 2 per cent. It is based on the purchase price, but at least on the official market value. It is a municipal tax, and the municipality can set a lower rate. Who pays it can be freely agreed; without an agreement, buyer and seller each owe half and are jointly liable.

The municipality holds a lien (Pfandrecht) for it, a security on the house ranking ahead of all others. From parents to children, half the municipal rate applies (Articles 235–239 Tax Act, Article 70 Tax Ordinance). Neighbouring Appenzell Innerrhoden charges 1 per cent, paid by the buyer (Articles 116 and 119, Innerrhoden Tax Act, in German).

The land registrar (Grundbuchverwalterin or Grundbuchverwalter) responsible for the municipality where the property is located. Neither municipal clerks (Gemeindeschreiber) nor registered lawyers notarise property purchases (Articles 2 and 3, Ausserrhoden Notarisation Act).

As a rule, your parents': their purchase price and their years of ownership. Inheritance, gifts and advances on inheritance (Erbvorbezug) only defer property gains tax (Articles 124, 128 and 133 Ausserrhoden Tax Act). After 30 full years of your parents' ownership, the tax is already halved. Inheriting itself triggers no transfer tax if the heirs are entered in the land register within two years of the death (Article 237).

After over 20 years' ownership, you may use the official market value from 20 years ago, plus value-adding improvements since (Article 131(3)). The land registry office (Grundbuchamt) can tell you the value. See also how we work with joint heirs.

Yes, from our office at Bahnhofplatz 1 in Zurich, for example when you live in Zurich and your parents' house is in Ausserrhoden. The basis is Ausserrhoden law: a fixed 30 per cent, your full years of ownership, your invoices. If the purchase was over 20 years ago, we calculate both permitted routes: investment costs or the official market value from 20 years ago.

From the first conversation to the signing of the deed, Dominik Devaja, managing director, is your only contact. We have already had a sales mandate in Ausserrhoden: a detached house built in 2017. We marketed it in full, with a property brochure, photography and the handling of every interested buyer. The valuation is free and without obligation, even if our recommendation turns out to be «keep it».

Transfer tax (Handänderungssteuer) 2 % (municipal tax; municipalities may set a lower rate); without agreement each side pays half (Art. 238 StG AR, StV Art. 70). Land registry and notarisation fees come on top. For a purchase price of CHF 1 million, the buyer pays CHF 10,500 to 21,000, depending on the purchase contract and excluding mortgage notes (as of 30 September 2026).

All eight cantons and a calculator: purchase costs by canton.