The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Swiss government backs abolishing imputed rental value

Federal Council and Parliament campaign in favour of abolishing the imputed rental value
Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter Keystone-SDA

The abolition of the imputed rental value for federal tax purposes is intended to reduce incentives for high private debt and simplify the tax system. On Friday Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter spoke on behalf of the government in favour of parliament's proposal.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

Those in favour of changing the system criticise the current taxable imputed rental value as an unfair tax on income that does not exist. Nevertheless, numerous attempts to abolish the imputed rental value have failed in the past.

+ Will Switzerland finally do away with imputed rental-value tax on homeowners?

According to the government, the latest reform attempt is balanced. In contrast to previous approaches, which wanted to continue to allow a large number of tax deductions, the proposal now being put to the vote restricts the deductions for direct federal tax to a minimum, thereby also limiting the overall government revenue shortfall.

The consequences of the system change will depend on the interest rate level. In the current situation, the government anticipates a reduction in revenue for the federal government, cantons and municipalities of around CHF1.8 billion ($2.2 billion). From a mortgage interest rate level of around 3%, however, the estimates suggest that this would result in additional income for the public sector.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch

Popular Stories

News

One person consumes 4.8 megawatt hours of electricity

More

One person consumes 4.8 megawatt hours of electricity

This content was published on On average, the Swiss consume 4.8 megawatt hours of electricity per year. According to Velobiz.de, this is roughly equivalent to the amount generated by all 176 cyclists in the Tour de France during the entire race.

Read more: One person consumes 4.8 megawatt hours of electricity
Lisa Mazzone criticises the Federal Council's neo-liberal policy

More

Foreign Affairs

Green party leader criticises government’s neo-liberal policy

This content was published on The Green Party delegates' meeting opened on Saturday morning in Vicques (JU) with a speech by party president Lisa Mazzone. Mazzone took particular aim at the Federal Council's policy towards the United States.

Read more: Green party leader criticises government’s neo-liberal policy
Safra Sarasin and a former asset manager sentenced

More

Swiss Politics

Safra Sarasin private bank and former asset manager sentenced

This content was published on The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has fined private bank J. Safra Sarasin CHF3.5 million for aggravated money laundering. A former bank employee received a six-month suspended prison sentence.

Read more: Safra Sarasin private bank and former asset manager sentenced
1MDB affair: JPMorgan to pay CHF 270 million

More

Swiss Politics

JPMorgan to pay CHF270 million to settle 1MDB claims

This content was published on JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay CHF270 million to the Malaysian government to settle all issues related to its role in the 1MDB financial scandal.

Read more: JPMorgan to pay CHF270 million to settle 1MDB claims
Philippe Lazzarini has overseen UNRWA since 2020.

More

Foreign Affairs

UNRWA boss Lazzarini to step down in March 2026

This content was published on Philippe Lazzarini will step down as head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) at the end of his term in March, he announced on Thursday.

Read more: UNRWA boss Lazzarini to step down in March 2026

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR