Letting a flat in Zurich from abroad: what can be run remotely and what cannot
For owners resident outside Switzerland. What works remotely, what has to stay local, and what needs settling in Zurich on the tax side.
How do I let my Zurich flat short-term from abroad?
Letting a Zurich flat short-term from abroad means splitting the operation in two: listing, pricing and guest communication can be run from anywhere; handover, cleaning and the incident at 10 p.m. cannot. At around 78 arrivals a year, the location-bound part comes up a good six times a month. Property in Switzerland also creates limited tax liability under Art. 4 DFTA, irrespective of where you live.
What cannot be run from a distance
The idea of running a flat from a laptop is not wrong — it is incomplete. Listing, prices, calendar, communication and statements are location-independent and can be handled from Singapore as well as from Wiedikon. The rest cannot.
Location-bound are: the handover, when a code does not work. The clean between two stays, with a departure at 11 and an arrival at 3. The tradesperson who has to get into the flat. The neighbour who rings at 11 p.m. At three nights' average stay and 64 per cent occupancy that means around 78 arrivals a year, and none of them falls at a time you choose.
The time difference sharpens this at one point more than anywhere else: response time to booking enquiries. It is a ranking factor on both platforms. Anyone living in a time zone where Zurich evenings are night loses bookings not through poor pricing but through late replies — and sees it in no report.
What has to be settled in Switzerland
Four things, regardless of who runs the operation:
- Tax. Property in Switzerland creates limited tax liability at the location of the property under Art. 4 DFTA — including where you live abroad. The income is to be declared in the canton of Zurich. How, and at what rate, belongs to your tax adviser; we supply the figures for it in an annual summary.
- An address for service in Switzerland. Authorities do not reliably serve documents abroad, and a missed deadline is expensive in a tax or building matter. Anyone without a representative should appoint one.
- Permissibility of the use. Zoning, residential-use quota, and in a condominium the by-laws. This is more laborious to check from a distance but no different — and it remains your clarification, not ours.
- Insurance. Notify the change of use, and check whether the mortgage lender needs to be told. Both are forgotten more often by owners abroad, because the paperwork is not in the same country as the flat.
Languages, time zones and who calls whom
We handle guest communication in German, English and Russian. That is not an add-on but the precondition for an owner abroad not having to read along — and for you to negotiate with us in the language in which you also want to understand a contract.
For you, one simple rule applies: you hear from us monthly with the statement, and in between only when something has to be decided. What that is stands in the agreement with figures: refunds to guests and orders to tradespeople require your consent above a limit set there, and nothing below it does. Without those limits, every blocked drain becomes a message at three in the morning your time.
The platform account stays yours. We work on it as a co-host rather than building our own — from a distance that is precisely where you keep control: you see every booking, every review and every payout in the same account, and on termination we step back without anything leaving with us.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I have to come to Switzerland to work with you?
- No. We carry out the walk-through with a trusted person on site or by video; you can sign the agreement from abroad. What we need are keys or access codes and the documents on permissibility. A meeting in person is welcome but not a condition.
- Do I have to pay tax in Switzerland?
- Property in Switzerland creates limited tax liability at the location of the property under Art. 4 DFTA, irrespective of your residence. The income is to be declared in the canton of Zurich. On the amount and on credit in your country of residence we do not advise — that belongs to a tax adviser. We supply the annual summary with all the figures.
- What language does the working relationship run in?
- German, English or Russian, as you prefer — agreement, statements and guest communication. The agreement exists in a German and an English version; in the event of discrepancies the German prevails, as is usual with Swiss contracts.
- How do I find out what is happening with my flat?
- Monthly with the statement: every booking with nights and amount, the platform fees, the commission calculation, third-party services passed on with receipts. In between we come to you for damage, for complaints from neighbours, and when a decision above the agreed amounts is due. You can look into your platform account yourself at any time.
- What if I want to use the flat myself when I am in Zurich?
- You block the periods in the calendar. With two weeks' notice there is no cost; at shorter notice, cancellations of confirmed bookings may arise, and those also harm the listing's ranking. Anyone who comes regularly should block the weeks early — that costs less revenue than a last-minute cancellation.
Your question is not answered?
Send it to us — we answer from practice, in writing, within one working day.