Real estate law and taxes

The rent is abusive if the landlord achieves too high a return with the rent or if the apartment is more expensive than other comparable apartments in the neighborhood (local and neighborhood custom).

A particular challenge arises from the fact that none of the other family members feel disadvantaged.

Transfer tax and property gains tax are payable on the sale of real estate. In the canton of Lucerne, transfer tax of 1.5 percent of the notarized sales price is payable by the buyer. The seller is liable for property gains tax.

Property gains tax is payable in the following cases. It is a special tax:

• Transfer of ownership of a property
• Transfer of the economic power of disposal over a property (economic change of ownership)
• Sale of a right to purchase, right of first refusal and repurchase of a property
• the transfer of real estate from private to business assets

Only the profit share is taxed (sales price - investment costs). The tax rate depends on the holding period. In certain cases, however, the real estate gains tax can be deferred or additional costs (e.g. the broker's fee and value-enhancing investments) can be deducted so that the real estate gains tax is as low as possible.

These essentially include the designation of rooms with special rights (partition plans), value quotas per condominium unit, the designation of common areas, cost sharing and exclusive rights of use.