Steer
Breakthrough: Imputed rental value is to be abolished – but there is a risk of the voters being rejected
The squabbling over the unpopular imputed rental value could soon end. The Council of States follows the National Council’s line. It is questionable whether the proposal will also exist in a referendum.
Homeowners could soon no longer have to pay the rental value – but fewer deductions would be possible.
Bild: Keystone
The extra sausage seems to have been eaten. The Council of States wants to switch to the National Council’s version of the imputed rental value, as the responsible commission announced on Tuesday. This means that the unpopular tax should be abolished for both first and second homes. The tourism cantons are resisting this with a high proportion of holiday apartments because they fear steep tax losses. Until now, the small chamber had always insisted on serving the mountain cantons an extra treat and continuing to charge an imputed rental value for second homes.
There were constitutional concerns about this. In order to break the resistance of the tourism cantons, the National Council’s Economic Commission has put together its own template. This is intended to create the legal basis so that the cantons can levy a property tax on second properties. This should be able to compensate for the loss of income. Only: In the consultation, the cantons particularly affected spoke out against it: They still prefer the current system with the imputed rental value.
The deductions will be significantly less
Surprisingly, the Council of States is taking not just one, but two steps towards the National Council. When it comes to the question of debt interest deduction, a narrow majority of the Economic Commission of the Council of States now prefers the proportionate-restrictive model. The debt interest is deductible based on the proportion of real estate assets, excluding the owner-occupied residential property, of the total assets.
This is a complicated system. This means that the possible deductions are severely limited in contrast to today. And also linked to certain conditions. Specifically, the deductions for people or families who only own property that they live in are no longer applicable. Traditional homeowners who do not rent additional apartments will no longer be able to make deductions in the future.
The proposal therefore goes much less far than the Council of States previously wanted. In recent negotiations, he had insisted that 70 percent of the debt interest remained deductible. However, this “Fünfer und Weggli” solution sparked fierce resistance in left-wing circles. If the tax had fallen and the deductions had remained high, the referendum would have been certain.
The homeowners association wants to go further
The compromise proposal that has now been concocted even has the blessing of Jaqueline Badran. The SP National Councilor stated in the debate that the left-wing side of the council could also agree to the proposal. But only if there are no further deductions. And these are still not off the table. The 70 percent variant is also being negotiated again in the Council of States. A minority of the Commission wants to stick to it.
She has support from the homeowners association (HEV). The quota-restrictive model that has now been devised is “administratively extremely complex and runs counter to the desired administrative simplification of the tax system,” according to an HEV statement. The solution is also “highly complicated”. What this shows is that the current solutions actually don’t go far enough for citizens.
The electorate will be polled anyway
If more deductions could be claimed, the receipt for the abolition of the imputed rental value would increase significantly. At an interest rate of 1.5 percent, the loss of income for the federal government, cantons and municipalities in the now proposed variant amounts to 1.67 billion francs. If 70 percent of the debt interest is deducted, it would already be 2.3 billion francs.
The imputed rental value has already failed twice at the ballot box. And the proposal is already certain to have at least one referendum. The property tax for second properties comes before the people if the Council of States also decides on it. If it fails, the imputed rental value will not be abolished – at least that is what the Economic Commission of the Council of States wants.
In contrast to a possible referendum on the imputed rental value, the estate surplus is also necessary. Without the support of the still skeptical mountain cantons, this could be a close call. The proposal should be discussed and put to the final vote as early as the winter session.
However, a powerful Council of States has already called for “an end to the exercise”. Beat Rieder (Center/VS) told the Walliser Bote that he would “fight the proposal from the National Council. And stand up for the mountain cantons.” The extra sausage is far from digested.
