Does anyone know about buying property abroad? Namely Switzerland

[morecheesepleaselouise]

We are wanting to buy a property in Switzerland but want to understand how the tax etc would work. I have looked for an expert advisor but come up with nothing. Can anyone help?

Far from an expert, but know enough to know that you’ll have to give a lot more than that more anyone to advise you!
The most important thing to start with is whether you’re resident in CH now, and if so in what type of permit.
And being CH, the rules vary by Canton.
I’m surprised you can’t find expert advice though - start with agents in the Canton in which you wish to buy.

Thanks I just wanted some basic info and was hoping I could find someone in the U.K. but struggling a bit!

Start with englishforum.ch - loads of info on there. Are you UK or Swiss tax resident or other?

www.investorsinproperty.com/buyers-info

• very general guide above.

Depending on which canton you are buying in find a tax advisor (Steuerberater) there to give you some advice over the phone initially. I do not see how some one in the UK could help unless they had practised in that particular canton previously. Then you need to understand 1) upfront purchase costs: notary fees, land registry and property transfer tax for the canton (and exemptions) 2) income tax on rental/eigenmiete and wealth tax 3) capital gains tax when you sell. If you end up buying use the local Swiss tax advisor to do your annual tax forms but you will need to cross reference against UK tax due to the double tax treaty (if you are renting the property out and it produces an income).

Hi @fishy - I was presuming I would just pay the income tax in the U.K. due to the double tax treaty?

So are you resident or not, and where do you want to buy? Non Swiss residents are restricted in where they can buy.
I’m not sure about income tax based on real income from rental... but there are other property taxes paid to the commune and canton - rules vary by canton, often % based on a theoretical rental value. The rule of thumb is that you pay those in the country of the property - i.e. CH - you can’t choose to pay them in the UK. Double tax treaty means you’re not liable in both countries - but you can’t choose where to pay them. In fact, the commune level property taxation wouldn’t exist in the UK anyway, there’s no equivalent.

You pay property taxes in CH whether you rent the property out or not. You pay wealth tax on your Swiss wealth and “eigenmiete” there even if you just keep it for yourself as a holiday home so you need to submit a Swiss tax return. The guide I sent you gives a very rough estimate of 0.5 pc per year of property value for annual property taxes. The thing is you will normally have to declare all your wordwide wealth to the Swiss tax adviser so s/he can work out the wealth tax rate which applies to you. So you will have to produce spreadsheets of your wealth accounts/investments etc. each year and be organised about it as otherwise it will cost you a fortune in fees to the Swiss tax accountant (they usually charge per hour).

If you do have an income from a Swiss property, you then have to declare it for self assessment in the U.K. and can usually deduct whatever taxes you paid in CH. But I am no accountant! Generally as long as the tax rate there is lower than the U.K. it is fully tax deductible but look on the HMRC website re foreign properties.