Switzerland property guide
Switzerland: Handänderungssteuer is cantonal
The federal tax dossier of November 2022 says the transfer tax on land is levied by the cantons or communes, and that most tariffs sit between 10 and 33 per mille. A land-register extract is a different document.
By MMYP TECHNOLOGIES (OPC) PRIVATE LIMITED, operator of MarkMyProperty. Head office: Delhi NCR, India. Updated . This page does not score listings.
Coverage: Switzerland. The Federal Tax Administration dossier Handänderungssteuer, November 2022, legislation as of 1 January 2022, fetched on 2 November 2026. It describes cantonal variation. It does not state the rate a buyer pays in one named canton, and it is not the land-register extract guide.
The search is Handänderungssteuer
On 2 November 2026, the Federal Tax Administration dossier headed Handänderungssteuer, November 2022, was fetched. It states that the legislation is as of 1 January 2022. It says the Handänderungssteuer is a tax on legal transactions whose object is the transfer of a right in rem in land from one person to another, levied on the land transaction as such. It is levied by the cantons and/or their communes, and not by the Confederation. Cantonal statutes do not use one word for it: Abgabe, Steuer, or Gebühr.
The dossier says that only Zurich, Glarus, Zug and Schaffhausen give the charge the character of a true fee, a Grundbuchgebühr. In the other cantons it is levied as a tax or as a Gemengsteuer. A footnote says the canton of Schwyz levies no Handänderungssteuer. The tariff section says the tariffs are generally proportional and, in most cantons or communes, are between 10 and 33 per mille of the tax base, that is the purchase price, the market value, or the official value. Only Valais has a progressive rate, and that progression stays within narrow limits. Some transfers, in particular inside a family, are taxed at a reduced rate. This page does not copy the canton table in that dossier, and it does not turn the 10 to 33 per mille range into the rate payable in a named canton.
The gain on a sale is a different tax
The same dossier distinguishes the Grundstückgewinnsteuer. That tax also attaches to a disposal of land, but its object is the gain, not the transfer itself. A search for Handänderungssteuer is therefore not answered by a national rate on the gain.
MarkMyProperty is operated by MMYP TECHNOLOGIES (OPC) PRIVATE LIMITED. Head office: Delhi NCR, India. It charges no platform brokerage commission. A pin, a user-drawn outline, or a contact reveal does not establish title or ownership.
Those sentences are that November 2022 dossier. They are not the land-register extract guide, which was not rewritten. A pin or a contact reveal does not establish title. This page does not set out a cantonal assessment.
Sources and further reading
Frequently asked questions
Does the Confederation levy Handänderungssteuer?
The November 2022 dossier says the cantons and/or their communes levy it, and the Confederation does not.
What range does the dossier give for most cantonal or communal tariffs?
Between 10 and 33 per mille of the purchase price, the market value, or the official value. That range is not the rate in one named canton.
Does a pin on a Switzerland listing replace the land register or this charge?
No. A pin, an outline, or a contact reveal does not establish title or ownership.