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This article reflects the state of our research and is not legal or tax advice. What applies to your property depends on the zone, the municipality, the house rules and your contract; only the competent authority gives binding information.
Key facts
- Income from short-term letting is taxable income and is declared as income from furnished flats.
- VAT liability arises from an annual turnover of CHF 100,000.
- The canton of Zurich has no statutory visitor's levy: the «city tax» of CHF 3.50 per person per night rests on an agreement with Airbnb.
- With partial letting the imputed rental value matters — and guest registration is not a levy but a duty.
Income tax
Income from short-term letting is taxable income. It is declared as income from furnished accommodation — with all rental income actually received.
Deductible are interest on debt, maintenance costs and, in many cantons, a flat allowance for wear on the furnishings. With furnished letting this point matters more than under a long-term tenancy: linen, crockery and furniture wear out faster.
If the property lies in a canton other than your place of residence, an inter-cantonal tax apportionment (Steuerausscheidung) may become necessary. The canton and the municipality where the property is located then have a say in the taxation.
Imputed rental value with partial letting
Anyone letting owner-occupied residential property by the day or the week may reduce the imputed rental value (Eigenmietwert) by the period of the letting. For the period in which the rooms are available for your own use, it remains taxable.
This is the point at which clean records of the occupied days are worth money directly. Without evidence there is no basis for the reduction.
Your figures, not our examples
The calculator takes the number of rooms, the neighbourhood and the fit-out and shows you a range — with the arithmetic beside it, not as a single figure you have to take on trust.
Estimate the returnThe CHF 100,000 threshold
From an annual turnover of CHF 100,000 from short-term letting, VAT liability arises. A special rate applies to accommodation, below the standard rate.
That threshold is closer than it sounds: it is measured on turnover, not profit, and it counts across all properties together. Anyone looking after two or three flats should keep an eye on the running total — the liability arises on exceeding it, not on noticing it.
Visitor’s tax: Zurich is a special case
Unlike most Swiss cantons, the canton of Zurich has no statutory accommodation levy. What guests pay as «city tax» rests on an agreement between Airbnb and the canton: CHF 3.50 per person per night, collected and remitted by the platform.
That has a consequence which is frequently overlooked: anyone letting through a channel without such an agreement — your own website, for instance — does not have to collect this amount. It is not a statutory claim of the canton.
To be distinguished from the visitor’s tax is the duty to register guests. It is not a levy but a statutory duty: anyone accommodating guests for payment must register them. For foreign guests this applies expressly.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. There is no de minimis threshold — the income is taxable as income, regardless of the number of nights.
None in statute. On the basis of an agreement with the canton, Airbnb collects CHF 3.50 per person per night. When letting through other channels, no such duty to collect exists.
From CHF 100,000 of annual turnover from accommodation, counted across all properties. A special rate applies to accommodation.
And for your property?
Sources
State of our research: 19 May 2026. Official rules change — check the current position with the competent authority.
