Selling property in Boppelsen: one waiver, two dates

Boppelsen's current building code contains no value capture article.⁶ The new version was adopted by the municipal assembly on 28 September 2025. The cantonal building department fully approved it on 15 June 2026. Article 3 explicitly waives the levy.⁸

Its entry into force had not yet been published in the documents reviewed; the building office can confirm the current status. For sellers, that changes nothing: neither the old nor the new building code makes Boppelsen charge a municipal value capture levy.

The cantonal levy stands untouched. If the municipality newly zones land for building, the canton charges 20 per cent of the increase in value, small gains exempt.⁷ The same applies when a zone for public buildings is rezoned. With new zoning, the levy falls due when building is approved or as early as a sale. It therefore belongs in the purchase contract.

The cantonal model puts residential building land in Boppelsen at CHF 1,636 per square metre for 2025. In 2015 it was CHF 1,011, a rise of 61.8 per cent.¹¹ Of the 160 Zurich municipalities, 95 show a stronger rise, one an equal one, 63 a weaker one. Typically the model ranges from CHF 1,116 to CHF 2,416 per square metre.

There is also a measure for the canton as a whole. From 2021 to 2025, residential building land actually sold for a median of CHF 1,742 per square metre. Model value and actual price are built differently and only give a rough sense of scale. One estimates undeveloped land across the whole municipality, the other pools actual sales across the whole canton.

The model also only estimates land generally, not your own plot and not the building on it. For a house in Boppelsen, the building comes on top, with its age, condition and fit-out. What neighbours say is no substitute for that.

The canton sets the tariff; Boppelsen only levies the tax.¹ Rates rise with the gain, from 10 per cent on the first CHF 4,000 to 40 per cent above CHF 100,000. Long ownership lowers the tax, in the example by 20 per cent after 10 full years.

After 20 full years, half is reached; there is no further reduction. The same gain would then cost CHF 40,700 instead of CHF 65,120. If your purchase was more than 20 years ago, you may use the market value of 20 years ago as the purchase price. Documented value-enhancing investments reduce the gain further; maintenance does not.

Use the proceeds for an owner-occupied home in Switzerland, and the tax can be deferred. You must have lived in the sold property too. If the new property costs less than the proceeds, the difference is taxable at once. If it costs no more than the old purchase price and investments, there is no deferral.⁹ Deferred does not mean waived.