Mortgage: What changes in tax terms?

When a mortgage is taken out, there are many tax changes associated with it. The mortgage interest has a tax-reducing effect, but must also be mentioned in the tax return. Mortgage borrowers are advised to contact their tax advisor if they are unsure about the tax creditability of the mortgage.

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Home rental value for home ownership

Owners of houses or apartments must tax these properties at the federal and cantonal levels. What is important here is the so-called self-rental value, which is considered as notional income or is treated as such in the tax return.

This means that it is assumed that the owners have rented the property and thus have a source of income. The rental value will be between 60 and 70 percent of the market rent. This value is set by the tax authorities. Important: Check the assessment decision as soon as you have received it. These rulings are not always correct and you then pay more than you should.

You can save a lot of money by timely contesting and correcting the assessment decision.

These tax deductions are possible

Mortgage debtors can claim the interest on the tax, which means that they minimize taxable income. Depending on how high your mortgage is, offsetting may result in you paying significantly less tax.

From a purely tax point of view, it is therefore helpful if the mortgage is as high as possible, but you also have to take other points into account when deciding on the amount of the mortgage. In addition, the loan must also be sustainable. Important: You still have to be able to afford the mortgage if the general interest rate rises again and your loan becomes more expensive. 

Important: Low interest rates are great, but they also make you less tax deductible. Therefore, in phases of very low interest rates, the tax savings are very small and can almost be neglected.

In addition to the debt interest mentioned, you can also claim maintenance costs. This applies to each property and means that you have to pay less tax. Choose between a flat-rate deduction amount and the deduction of the actual costs that you actually incurred.

The lump-sum deduction is calculated from the rental value, from which ten percent is deducted. Compare this value to the actual cost. Tip: Always keep all receipts that can be assigned to the maintenance costs for the property so that you can meet your obligation to provide evidence. It also makes it easier for you to check which variant is better for you from a tax perspective.

Costs for the efficiency of the building can be deducted if they result in less energy being used in the building or if these measures help to protect the environment better. Otherwise, investments that preserve the value of the property may not be deducted. The distinction is not always easy. An example: you have the roof of the house newly covered.

If this is not necessary in terms of energy, you cannot deduct the costs. However, if you combine this work with better insulation of the roof and thus less energy loss when heating, the investment is tax deductible. The information sheets provided by the tax offices are helpful when classifying investments.

Tax saving model amortization?

The financial institutions always ask for an amortization, with which the mortgage on the property can be reduced to a maximum of 65 percent of the value of the property. This means that the first mortgage can only exist within 15 years (or until the age of 65). The second mortgage must then be paid off in full. The payment itself can be made either directly or indirectly:

Direct payback

In the case of direct amortization, the mortgage debtor regularly pays back his tranches, which are divided equally, to the creditors. Due to the regular payment of the loan debt, the interest burden is getting smaller, but this results in a growing tax burden. Tax deductions are falling. This means that the benefit of falling mortgage debt has a negative impact on the tax burden.

Many debtors certainly see a psychological benefit here, because when they see the huge mountain of debt gradually shrinking, that makes them optimistic. However, direct amortization also has disadvantages. As the mortgage debt decreases, the tax burden increases and interest rates decrease. This means that an ever smaller amount can be deducted from the tax return.

Last but not least, the amortization and payments into the 3a pillar of social security can become a financial burden.

Indirect payback

With this variant, the mortgage always remains the same. Payments are no longer transferred to the mortgage lender, but go to the Pillar 3A pension account. There they are saved. These deposits are tax deductible and can be deducted from income tax.

Those who receive the payments later on retirement only have to pay a reduced tax rate. This variant is good for all debtors who would otherwise not be able to build up a pension through the 3a pillar because they simply cannot afford it. Indirect amortization is particularly interesting for families if it is managed through a life insurance policy in pillar 3a and thus within the bounds of the pension plan.

If the policyholder dies, the mortgage is replaced by the sum insured. This means that indirect amortization covers the death of the policyholder if it is carried out through life insurance. However, price fluctuations can lead to losses in value.

Furthermore, the debt from the mortgage always remains the same, which is also a disadvantage of this procedure. But it also has advantages, because the mortgage interest has to be deducted longer from taxable income than with direct amortization.
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