On this page
- Sell or rent out your house: what is left after ten years?
- When do the sums tip in favour of selling?
- Is it worth waiting before you sell?
- How is rental income taxed, and what changes in 2029?
- Do you lose the tax deferral for a new home if you rent out first?
- What duties do you have as a landlord?
- Can you sell a rented house later on?
- Inherited house: let it or sell it, and what applies among heirs?
- Does letting protect the house for supplementary benefits in care?
- What does an empty house cost, and how does a sale affect wealth tax?
- To be honest
- Frequently asked questions
The retirement flat is signed for, the move is in December. The house stays behind: the kitchen you cooked in for decades, the garden, the children’s empty rooms. Then, over Sunday lunch, someone says the sensible-sounding thing: «Don’t sell it. Rent it out. It stays in the family and brings in money every month.» Heirs hear the same sentence, only around the siblings’ table.
The sum in your head is simple: rent against bank interest. It leaves out three things: income tax on every month’s rent, property gains tax on a later sale, and a lease that ties you down for longer than anyone thinks over Sunday lunch.
Here I set out those three sums openly, with the legal references and a worked example in Swiss francs. Afterwards, you will know which of your own figures tip the balance.
How large the difference can be in francs is shown by an example.
Sell or rent out your house: what is left after ten years?
Take a detached house in the Canton of Zurich, bought 17 full years ago for CHF 900,000 and worth CHF 1,800,000 today. The owner, living alone, moves into a rented retirement flat. The same tax and tenancy rules apply to an owner-occupied flat.
If she sells now, she pays CHF 206,146 in property gains tax (Grundstückgewinnsteuer), the tax on the profit from a sale.2 If she invests the rest at 1%, she has around CHF 1.71 million after ten years. If she rents out for ten years and then sells, the tax falls to CHF 174,700.2 With the taxed rent, she ends up at around CHF 1.91 million. Only CHF 31,446 of the lead comes from the lower tax. The rest is rent against interest.
What this means for you: this is not a recommendation to rent out. The lead depends on rent of CHF 4,500 a month. At around CHF 2,004, it is gone.
Worked example
Canton of Zurich: sell now (A) or rent out for ten years, then sell (B)
Our own, simplified example. Only the tax scale is official; every other value is an assumption, not a market statement: owner living alone, moving into a rented flat at the end of 2026; detached house, building older than ten years; original cost (purchase price plus value-adding investment) CHF 900,000; value today and in ten years unchanged at CHF 1,800,000, so that only tax and rent matter; no mortgage; income tax of 30% on each additional franc; return on the invested proceeds 1% a year after bank charges; rent CHF 4,500 a month, three months’ vacancy; maintenance, insurance and management CHF 12,000 a year.
- Property gain (1,800,000 minus 900,000)
- CHF 900,000
- Tax under the scale, before reduction
- CHF 349,400
- A · Tax on selling now (17 full years, 41% reduction)
- CHF 206,146
- A · Net proceeds
- CHF 1,593,854
- A · Interest over ten years after income tax
- about CHF 111,570
- A · Position after ten years
- about CHF 1,705,424
- B · Rental income (117 months at 4,500)
- CHF 526,500
- B · Maintenance, insurance, management (ten years)
- CHF 120,000
- B · Rental income after income tax
- CHF 284,550
- B · Tax on selling at the end of 2036 (27 full years, 50% reduction)
- CHF 174,700
- B · Net proceeds
- CHF 1,625,300
- B · Position after ten years
- CHF 1,909,850
- Difference in favour of B, under these assumptions only (of which CHF 31,446 from the lower property gains tax)
- about CHF 204,426
The example uses CHF 1,800,000. Which figure applies to your house is shown by a careful review of its value, free of charge and without obligation, not even to sell.
Prefer to talk? +41 76 325 11 95 – you speak directly with Dominik Devaja.
When do the sums tip in favour of selling?
In the example, both routes come out level if rent drops to about CHF 2,004 a month. Or if the invested proceeds earn about 2.83% a year, after bank charges but before income tax. A CHF 150,000 renovation during the letting roughly halves the lead. That only holds if it purely preserves value and is deducted as maintenance.1 2
What is not included is hard to put in francs. The work of being a landlord. Changes of tenant and lost rent. The tenant protection that binds you until the sale. And the value of the house, which can rise or fall over ten years.
Then there is a question only you can answer: who looks after the tenants in ten years, you yourself or your heirs?
What this means for you: put in your own figures. The rent your house could fetch. Your tax rate. Your years of ownership. The most important starting figure is the market value.
| Changed assumption | Result |
|---|---|
| Renovation of CHF 150,000 during the letting, fully deductible as value-preserving maintenance, calculated at an unchanged tax rate | B is still around CHF 99,426 ahead |
| Monthly rent at which A and B come out equal | around CHF 2,004 |
| Annual return on the invested proceeds at which A and B come out equal | around 2.83% after bank charges, before income tax |
| Simply waiting: selling after 20 instead of 17 full years (reduction 50% instead of 41%) | CHF 31,446 less property gains tax |
Is it worth waiting before you sell?
Yes, up to a limit. Zurich’s property gains tax rises in steps from 10% to 40% of the gain, the same in every municipality.2 From five full years of ownership, the reduction is 5%. Each further full year adds 3 percentage points, up to 50% after 20 full years.2 After that, it grows no further.
For an inherited house, what counts is the last purchase, usually by the parents, not the inheritance.2 This applies to the length of ownership and to the gain. So you take on the entire rise in value since then. If that purchase was over 20 years ago, you may use the market value of 20 years earlier instead.2 Value-adding alterations during ownership also reduce the gain.2
What this means for you: after 20 full years of ownership, the decision rests mainly on rent against interest. In Switzerland, this is called property gains tax, not speculation tax. Your own figure: the calculator for the Canton of Zurich.
| Full years of ownership | Effect on the tax |
|---|---|
| under 1 year | 50% surcharge |
| 1 to under 2 years | 25% surcharge |
| 2 to under 5 years | neither surcharge nor reduction |
| 5 years | 5% reduction |
| 10 years | 20% reduction |
| 17 years | 41% reduction |
| 20 years or more | 50% reduction |
How is rental income taxed, and what changes in 2029?
Rent is income. It is taxed by the Confederation and the Canton of Zurich together with your pension and your interest.1 2 As the rate rises with income, this can lift your overall rate.
Today you may deduct maintenance, insurance premiums and the cost of a property manager.1 2 Instead of actual costs, you can choose a flat rate. In the Canton of Zurich it is 20% of gross rental income.4 For federal tax it is 20% for buildings over ten years old, otherwise 10%.3 You may choose afresh each year.
From 1 January 2029, the imputed rental value (Eigenmietwert) is abolished: the notional rent taxed on a home you live in.5 The maintenance deduction for your own home goes with it. For rented houses it remains, for federal, cantonal and municipal tax.5 A flat rate from 2029 has not yet been set.
What this means for you: if you let, you keep the maintenance deduction after 2029. Keep every tradesman’s invoice. More in our guide to the imputed rental value.
Do you lose the tax deferral for a new home if you rent out first?
Deferral of property gains tax for a replacement home (Ersatzbeschaffung) applies under one condition only: you sell a house or flat you lived in permanently and exclusively yourself. Insofar as you use the proceeds for another owner-occupied home in Switzerland, the tax is deferred.2 The deadline is generally two years.8 If you move into a rented flat or a care home, you do not qualify in any case.
If you rent out first and sell years later, you generally lose this deferral. Letting is harmless only if it was merely temporary and caused by outside circumstances beyond your control.8 The house must also have been your main residence before the sale.8 Whether moving into a care home and then letting falls under this is decided case by case by the municipal tax office. Letting for several years is unlikely to count as «temporary».
What this means for you: if you plan to buy your own retirement flat, settle the deferral before the first tenancy agreement.
What duties do you have as a landlord?
You hand over the home fit for use and keep it that way.9 Heating, kitchen, roof: repairs and replacements are yours. The tenant only covers small cleaning and minor repairs.9 For homes, this duty cannot be shifted to the tenant by contract.9
A deposit may be at most three months’ rent. It is held by a bank, in an account in the tenant’s name.9
You cannot set the rent freely. The tenant can challenge the initial rent as unfair within 30 days of moving in, for instance after a substantial increase.9 In Zurich, the official form is required while at most 1.5% of homes stand empty.11 12 In 2026 it was 0.52%.13
The reference interest rate is based on the banks’ average mortgage rate. If it falls, the tenant can ask for a reduction.9 It has stood at 1.25% since September 2025.10
What this means for you: letting is a job with duties, not passive income. A property manager takes on the work, at a deductible cost.
Can you sell a rented house later on?
Yes. The lease passes to the buyer together with the house.9 In Swiss law: a sale does not break a lease. The buyer can give ordinary notice under the contract and the law, as before. With urgent personal need for themselves or close relatives, they may also give statutory notice for the next legal date.9 If that ends the lease earlier than the contract allowed, you are liable to the tenant for the loss.9
If you give notice yourself, or later the buyer does, it must be in writing and on the official form.9 For homes, at least three months’ notice applies, to a customary local date. The tenant can challenge the notice within 30 days. If moving out would cause hardship, they can ask for an extension of up to four years for homes.9
What this means for you: if you plan to sell later, you may be selling with a tenant in place. Before letting, also check with your bank whether your mortgage can continue.
Inherited house: let it or sell it, and what applies among heirs?
Until the estate is divided, the house belongs to all heirs jointly (Erbengemeinschaft), and they dispose of it jointly.14 Unless another rule applies, decisions about the house need everyone’s consent.14 Letting together therefore also means being the landlord together. Without the others’ authority or a representative for the heirs, no one should sign a lease alone. Such a representative (Erbenvertretung) acts for the heirs until division. At the request of one heir, the authority can appoint one.14
Any heir can demand division at any time, unless bound by a contract or by law.14 Letting «for the long term» therefore only holds as long as everyone agrees. If immediate division would substantially harm the value, the court can postpone it temporarily on request.14 A running lease remains in place on division or sale.9
For tax, each heir is allocated their share of the rental income as their own income, and of the assets likewise.1 2 How the division itself works is explained on the page on joint heirs.
Does letting protect the house for supplementary benefits in care?
No. Supplementary benefits (Ergänzungsleistungen) top up the old-age pension when it and your assets fall short. Eligibility requires net assets (after debts) below CHF 100,000, or CHF 200,000 for couples.15 The only exception is a house you or your spouse still live in.15
After a move into care, the house may count as lived in for a transition period. At most 6 months, or up to 18 if a return is open.20 Then a let or empty house counts in full, in principle at market value (Verkehrswert).16 Rent counts as income. Maintenance and mortgage interest count only up to the gross rent.15 In care, Zurich counts one fifth of old-age pensioners’ assets above the allowance as income yearly.17
What this means for you: once neither of you lives there, the house counts after the transition period, whether let, empty or sold. A sale below market value can also count as giving up assets (Vermögensverzicht), like a gift.15 16 The care home cost calculator shows what a place costs.
What does an empty house cost, and how does a sale affect wealth tax?
If the house stands empty because you are actively looking for a tenant, or because it is intended for sale, Zurich practice levies no imputed rental value.7 If instead you keep it available for yourself, with no plan to let or sell, the imputed rental value is still taxed until the end of 2028.7 Insurance, maintenance and wealth tax carry on in every case.
Your assets remain subject to wealth tax whether the house is let, empty or sold.2 In Zurich, a detached house is valued by a formula of land value plus current building value (Zeitbauwert), the building’s value today given its age. This applies whether you live in it or let it.19 The tax value must lie between 70% and 100% of market value.6 Money in the bank, by contrast, counts at its full nominal value.18
So a sale swaps an asset with an often lower tax value for money at full value. Wealth tax can rise as a result. Where your house sits within this range is shown by your municipal tax office’s revaluation, which the canton says will be sent out in January 2027.6
For daughters and sons
Researching this for your parents?
Perhaps you have said it yourself: «Just rent it out.» It is well meant. But the work of being a landlord then falls to your mother or father, for years. Show them this calculation first, not an opinion already formed. That way your parents decide for themselves, and you remain the daughter or son who cares.
Related topics
What else do owners in the same situation read?
- Later life and care: keep or sell the houseA parent needs care – what do supplementary benefits cover, and what happens to the house?
- Joint heirs and a propertySeveral of us inherit a house – keep it, buy each other out or sell, and what does each of us keep?
- Imputed rental value: what abolition meansImputed rental value is being abolished – what changes for me as an owner, and does it matter for a sale?
- Net Proceeds Report Canton of Zurich 2026What remains in my municipality after property gains tax?
- Sell first or buy first?We are swapping the house for a flat – how do selling and buying fit together safely?
To be honest
What can no web page decide for you?
What can be backed up officially: rent is income, the property gains tax reduction grows up to 20 full years, and a lease passes to the buyer on sale.1 2 9 Whether selling or renting out is better for you cannot be derived from any law. It depends on rent, tax rate and the value of the house. And on how much work you still want to take on in the years ahead.
What I do not decide: your personal tax rate, the line between value-preserving and value-adding investment, or whether your mortgage can continue if you let. That is for a tax adviser, the tax office and your bank. This page is general information and is not a substitute for tax or legal advice. What I contribute is a careful review of your house’s value. If you first want to clarify whether staying, adapting or selling fits at all, that page gives a first orientation.
What else do owners ask?
Which is better: selling the house or renting it out?
There is no general answer. It depends on years of ownership, rent, tax rate, the value of the house and your willingness to be a landlord. The worked example on this page shows which assumptions change the outcome.
Is there a speculation tax in Switzerland?
Not under that name. The tax on the gain from a sale is called property gains tax (Grundstückgewinnsteuer). In the Canton of Zurich it falls with the years of ownership, up to a 50% reduction after 20 full years.
Do I have to pay tax on rental income?
Yes, as income, federally and in the Canton of Zurich. You may deduct maintenance, insurance and management, today optionally as a flat rate.
Can I let an inherited house first and sell it later?
Yes, if all heirs agree. But any heir can ask for division at any time. For tax, the last purchase counts, usually by the parents. If that was already 20 full years ago, waiting no longer increases the reduction.
What happens to the tenant if I sell the house?
The lease passes to the buyer. The buyer can give notice under the contract and the law, and early notice in case of urgent personal need. You are then liable to the tenant for the loss. The tenant can challenge the notice and ask for an extension.
Does the maintenance deduction remain for let houses after 2029?
Yes, for federal as well as cantonal and municipal tax. For owner-occupied homes, it goes with the imputed rental value. What a flat rate will look like from 2029 is still open.
Is what I tell you treated confidentially?
Yes. No passing on to other estate agents, no listings without your instruction. Details in our privacy policy.
Sources
- Direct Federal Tax Act (DBG), Articles 10, 21, 32 (SR 642.11), in German · as of 2 September 2026, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Canton of Zurich Tax Act (StG), § 9, 21, 30, 39, 216, 219, 220, 221, 225 (LS 631.1), in German · supplement 132, as of 1 April 2026
- Ordinance on deductible property costs, Article 5 (SR 642.116), in German · as of 1 January 2020
- Zurich tax manual ZStB 30.2, flat-rate deduction for maintenance costs, in German · valid from 1 January 2002, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Federal Act on the systemic change in home ownership taxation, AS 2026 213 (new Articles 21, 32a, 33 DBG and 9a StHG), in German · in force from 1 January 2029
- Cantonal Tax Office of Zurich, property valuation 2026, in German · retrieved 14.10.2026
- Zurich tax manual ZStB 21.5, start of imputed rental value taxation, in German · dated 19 July 2012, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Zurich tax manual ZStB 216.3, replacement of owner-occupied homes, para. 9 and 17, in German · valid from 1 February 2018, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Swiss Code of Obligations (OR), Articles 256, 257e, 259, 261, 266c, 266l, 270, 270a, 271, 272, 272b, 273 (SR 220), in German · as of 1 October 2026
- Federal Office for Housing, mortgage reference interest rate, in German · published 1 September 2026, next publication 1 December 2026
- Canton of Zurich, Directorate of Justice and the Interior: rental forms (§ 229b EG ZGB), in German · retrieved 14.10.2026
- Courts of the Canton of Zurich: challenging the initial rent (form requirement while vacancy is at most 1.5%), in German · retrieved 14.10.2026
- Canton of Zurich, press release on the vacancy rate (0.52%), in German · dated 18 August 2026, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Swiss Civil Code (ZGB), Articles 602, 603, 604, 653 (SR 210), in German · as of 1 July 2026
- Supplementary Benefits Act (ELG), Articles 9a, 10, 11, 11a (SR 831.30), in German · as of 1 January 2026
- Supplementary Benefits Ordinance (ELV), Articles 16, 17, 17a (SR 831.301), in German · as of 1 January 2025
- Canton of Zurich Supplementary Benefits Act (ZLG), § 11(3) (LS 831.3), in German · supplement 133, as of 1 July 2026
- Zurich tax manual ZStB 39.1, valuation of securities and receivables, in German · dated 1 November 2016, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Zurich directive on the revaluation of real estate (Weisung 2026), para. 20 (LS 631.32), in German · supplement 131, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Federal Social Insurance Office: guidelines on supplementary benefits (WEL), marginal nos. 3390.01–02, 3442.02, in German · as of 1 January 2026, retrieved 14.10.2026
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
