4 ms·

Switzerland makes home owners pay taxes as if they rented the house out for 12 months each year. This could add a nice chunk to your net cost of owning.

corford 9y ago
Which I guess most landlords would simply pass on to the tenants?
- petre 9y ago
  It's rent adjusted. So if everyone passes it on to the tennants they end up paying more tax.
- branchless 9y ago
  Nope, that's not how prices are set. https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-land-value-tax-not-create-deadweight-losses https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-land-value-tax-not-create-d...
- tonfa 9y ago
  If they rent it they pay income tax anyway (or rather the company that owns the place does). The "virtual rent" added to income is for people who own the place where they live. Switzerland is not very home ownership friendly, at least there are very little tax incentives for it (personally I'd rather have people invest their wealth into productive things rather than real estate, so I find it good). In large cities most places are owned by banks/insurances/other real estate companies and rented out.
  - gnaritas 9y ago
    I wouldn't call not giving special privileges to home owners over renters unfriendly, I'd call it neutral and fair.
    - jacalata 9y ago
      They didn't say it was unfriendly, they said it was not friendly. So, neutral.
      - gnaritas 9y ago
        That's a distinction without a difference, they mean the same thing. Not friendly does not imply neutral, it implies not friendly. If I said don't walk through that neighborhood it's not friendly, you would not interpret that as saying it's neutral.
gnaritas 9y ago
Wouldn't it be more accurate to say they don't give special treatment to home owners over renters? Sounds more fair to me.
lwkl 9y ago
That's the reason why Switzerland has such a high per capita debt [1]. You can deduct your interest payments from the tax payments. So there is an interest to stay indebted for homeowners. My parents own a house that they inherited from my grandparents including a debt but both wouldn't pay off the mortgage because of tax reasons. [1] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/wealth-ranking_swiss-are-world-s-wealthiest---and-most-indebted/41689124 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/wealth-ranking_swiss-are-world-...

corford 9y ago

Which I guess most landlords would simply pass on to the tenants?

petre 9y ago
It's rent adjusted. So if everyone passes it on to the tennants they end up paying more tax.
branchless 9y ago
Nope, that's not how prices are set. https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-land-value-tax-not-create-deadweight-losses https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-land-value-tax-not-create-d...
tonfa 9y ago
If they rent it they pay income tax anyway (or rather the company that owns the place does). The "virtual rent" added to income is for people who own the place where they live. Switzerland is not very home ownership friendly, at least there are very little tax incentives for it (personally I'd rather have people invest their wealth into productive things rather than real estate, so I find it good). In large cities most places are owned by banks/insurances/other real estate companies and rented out.
- gnaritas 9y ago
  I wouldn't call not giving special privileges to home owners over renters unfriendly, I'd call it neutral and fair.
  - jacalata 9y ago
    They didn't say it was unfriendly, they said it was not friendly. So, neutral.
    - gnaritas 9y ago
      That's a distinction without a difference, they mean the same thing. Not friendly does not imply neutral, it implies not friendly. If I said don't walk through that neighborhood it's not friendly, you would not interpret that as saying it's neutral.

gnaritas 9y ago

Wouldn't it be more accurate to say they don't give special treatment to home owners over renters? Sounds more fair to me.

lwkl 9y ago

That's the reason why Switzerland has such a high per capita debt [1]. You can deduct your interest payments from the tax payments. So there is an interest to stay indebted for homeowners. My parents own a house that they inherited from my grandparents including a debt but both wouldn't pay off the mortgage because of tax reasons. [1] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/wealth-ranking_swiss-are-world-s-wealthiest---and-most-indebted/41689124 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/wealth-ranking_swiss-are-world-...