Real Estate Taxation in Geneva: Taxes on Purchase, Ownership and Sale, Deductions
Real estate taxation in Geneva refers to all the taxes linked to a property located in the canton, levied by the canton, the communes and the Confederation.
On purchase, the owner pays registration duties. During ownership, the property enters their taxable income and wealth and bears the supplementary property tax. On resale, the gain is taxed according to the holding period.
This article covers the taxes at each stage, the deductions, the abolition of the rental value in 2029 and three special cases.
What taxes does a property owner pay in Geneva?
A property owner in Geneva pays six taxes, which fall on the purchase, ownership, sale and then transfer of the property, the last being borne by the heir or the donee.
The table classifies them by stage, under the law as of 2026.
| Moment | Tax and legal basis | Basis of calculation | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase | Registration duties (Act on registration duties, LDE, art. 33, 84 and 85) | Purchase price and mortgage note | Canton |
| Ownership | Income tax (Act on the taxation of individuals, LIPP, art. 24; Federal Act on direct federal tax, LIFD, art. 21) | Rental value or rents received | Confederation, canton, commune |
| Ownership | Wealth tax (LIPP art. 50 and 56) | Tax value, debts deducted | Canton, commune |
| Ownership | Supplementary property tax (General Act on public contributions, LCP, art. 76) | Gross tax value | Canton |
| Sale | Tax on real estate profits and capital gains (LCP art. 80 to 84) | Gain realised, improvement costs deducted | Canton |
| Transfer | Inheritance tax (Act on inheritance tax) or gift tax (LDE art. 11) | Value of the property transferred | Canton |
The Confederation taxes only income, not wealth or private gains (LIFD art. 1 and 16 para. 3). The communes apply their additional centimes to the cantonal tax on income and wealth (LCP art. 293).
What taxes are paid when buying a property in Geneva?
When buying a property in Geneva, the buyer pays a registration duty of 3% of the price, charged to them by law (LDE art. 33 and 163). This transfer duty is a cantonal tax on the transfer of ownership.
The purchase and its financing give rise to two duties.
- Sale duty: 3% of the price, with no additional centime (LDE art. 49).
- Duty on the mortgage note: 1.365% of its amount, additional centimes included (LDE art. 84 and 85).
For a main residence that the buyer occupies for 3 years without interruption, the Casatax allowance deducts CHF 20,924 from the sale duty and halves the duty on the mortgage note, for a price of up to CHF 1,394,928 (LDE art. 8A, amounts as of 1 March 2026). On CHF 1,000,000, the sale duty falls from CHF 30,000 to CHF 9,076.
Notary fees are added to this, under a separate tariff.
How is the rental value taxed in Geneva?
The rental value is taxed in Geneva as income in kind: the theoretical rent of the dwelling occupied by its owner is added to their taxable income (LIPP art. 24; LIFD art. 21).
For cantonal and communal tax (ICC), two reliefs reduce it.
- Occupancy allowance: 4% per year of continuous occupation, up to 40% (LIPP art. 24 para. 2 and 50 let. e).
- Effort rate: a ceiling of 20% of total gross income, if the financing interest does not exceed the capped rental value (LIPP art. 24 para. 2).
Direct federal tax (IFD), for its part, is based on the gross rental value. The 2025 GeTax guide of the Geneva tax administration gives the example of a villa occupied for 16 years: CHF 35,856 taxed for IFD, CHF 21,514 for ICC.
A let property declares its rents instead.
How is a property taxed as wealth?
A property is taxed as wealth at its tax value, which in Geneva corresponds to the purchase price or an old valuation (LIPP art. 52 para. 5), reduced by mortgage debts (art. 56).
The Act on the tax valuation of certain properties (LEFI, art. 2) increased the old values of villas and apartments by 12% for 2025. The Federal Supreme Court annulled on 28 February 2025 their indexation to consumer prices, without touching the increase (judgment 9C_606/2024).
Since 2026, a cantonal regulation indexes them to residential property and construction prices (+2.18% in 2026). The owner-occupier applies to their tax value the same occupancy allowance as for the rental value (LIPP art. 50 let. e).
How much does the supplementary property tax cost?
The supplementary property tax costs 1 ‰ of the tax value per year, reduced to 0.2 ‰ for the main residence of an individual (LCP art. 76 para. 1 and 5, in 2026).
On a tax value of CHF 1,000,000, it comes to CHF 200 for a main home and to CHF 1,000 for a let or second home. It ignores the occupancy allowance and debts (para. 2), and falls on the owner entered in the land register on 31 December (para. 6).
A building with high or very high energy performance is exempt from it for 20 years, on cantonal certification (LCP art. 78).
What tax deductions are available to a property owner in Geneva?
The tax deductions of a property owner in Geneva cover three types of costs, provided for by the LIPP (art. 34).
- Mortgage interest: deductible up to the return on wealth increased by CHF 50,000 (LIPP art. 34 let. a).
- Maintenance costs: actual costs or a flat rate, chosen each year and per property. The flat rate is 15% of the rental value of the occupied dwelling if the building is 10 years old or less, 25% beyond that (LIPP art. 34 let. d, since 2024), against 10% and 20% for IFD (Ordinance on property costs, art. 5).
- Energy-saving investments: treated as maintenance costs, with a balance that can be carried forward over two years (LIPP art. 34 let. e).
Value-adding works are not deductible from income (LIPP art. 38 para. 1 let. c) and are declared, for the tax value, within 12 months of their completion (LIPP art. 51).
How is the real estate gains tax calculated in Geneva?
The real estate gains tax in Geneva is calculated on the sale price minus the purchase price, the purchase and sale costs and the value-adding works, at a rate that falls with the holding period.
The tax on real estate profits and capital gains (IBGI) applies even to a seller domiciled outside the canton (LCP art. 80 para. 3). The scale (LCP art. 84, from 2025) has seven brackets.
| Holding period | Rate |
|---|---|
| Less than 2 years | 50% |
| 2 to 4 years | 40% |
| 4 to 6 years | 30% |
| 6 to 8 years | 20% |
| 8 to 10 years | 15% |
| 10 to 25 years | 10% |
| 25 years or more | 2% |
An apartment bought for CHF 800,000 plus CHF 40,000 in costs, resold for CHF 1,000,000 11 years later less CHF 30,000 in brokerage, yields a gain of CHF 130,000, i.e. CHF 13,000 in tax at 10%. An owner-occupying seller who reinvests the gain in a dwelling within 5 years has the tax refunded (reinvestment, LCP art. 85).
The diagram below shows the staircase of the scale: the rate is divided by five between a sale before 2 years and a sale after 10 years, then drops to 2% beyond 25 years.
What does the abolition of the rental value in 2029 change?
The abolition of the rental value, approved on 28 September 2025, removes the rental value of the owner-occupied dwelling from taxable income from 1 January 2029, a date set by the Federal Council on 1 April 2026.
According to the Federal Council, the Act of 20 December 2024 changes three other rules.
- Maintenance costs: deduction abolished, except for let properties.
- Mortgage interest: deductible only in proportion to the let properties.
- First home: interest deductible for 10 years, capped in the first year at CHF 10,000 for a married couple or CHF 5,000 for a single person, then reduced by 10% per year.
The comparison below sets side by side the situation of an owner-occupier until 2028 and from 2029, with the exception provided for a first home.
The cantons may keep the energy deduction until 2050 and introduce their own tax on second homes. The big loser is the heavily indebted owner, deprived of the deduction of their interest.
Which property taxes apply depending on your situation in Geneva?
Property taxes in Geneva change depending on whether the property is a second home, is located outside the canton or comes from an inheritance.
Each case alters one stage of a property's tax journey, one of the facets of any real estate in Geneva project.
How is a second home taxed in Geneva?
A Geneva dwelling that is not its owner's main residence pays a supplementary property tax of 1 ‰ of its tax value instead of 0.2 ‰.
The seller of a second home loses the reinvestment relief, reserved for a dwelling lastingly occupied by its owner (LCP art. 85; Federal Act on the harmonisation of direct taxes, LHID, art. 12 para. 3 let. e).
Is a property located outside the canton taxed in Geneva?
No, a property located outside the canton is not taxed in Geneva, but it raises the rate applied to other income and to wealth (LIPP art. 5 para. 1 and 6 para. 1).
In the absence of a local rental value for a property abroad, the cantonal tax administration applies a flat rate of 4.5% of the tax value.
Is an inheritance subject to the real estate gains tax?
No, an inheritance is not subject to the real estate gains tax, as the law exempts succession and the division of an estate (LCP art. 81 para. 3 let. c).
The cantonal tax administration accepts that an heir who resells counts the holding period from the deceased's purchase (estates opened since 2001).