Owning a Holiday Home in Valais While Living Abroad: Tax, Insurance and Lex Koller

You live in London, Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam and own a chalet or an apartment in Verbier, Nendaz, Crans-Montana or Zermatt. Renting it out when you are not there makes sense, but three questions come up every time: where is the rental income taxed, how is the property insured when its owner lives abroad, and does the Lex Koller allow it to be rented at all?

This guide sets out the principles as they stand in the official sources we checked in November 2026: the Valais tax law, the double taxation treaties between Switzerland and the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and the Federal Office of Justice’s guidance on the Lex Koller. It contains no tax amounts on purpose: the bill depends on your whole situation, and only a Valais fiduciary, together with a tax adviser in your country, can work it out.

In Switzerland: taxed where the property is

Owning a property in Valais makes you liable to tax in the canton even if you live abroad. This is limited tax liability based on economic attachment (art. 3 of the Valais tax law, LF): it covers only the income and wealth relating to the property (art. 6 LF), not the rest of your assets.

In practice:

• There is no withholding tax on rents. You file a Valais tax return every year, covering cantonal, communal and federal direct taxes, and you pay on the basis of the assessment. The deadline is 31 March, and an extension is possible.
• The tax administration may require a representative in Switzerland (art. 134a LF). In practice, this role is usually taken by a Valais fiduciary, who also prepares the return.
• Rental income received through the platforms is declared, then deductions apply. The cantonal guide to the tax return provides flat-rate deductions for furnished letting and for maintenance costs, or the deduction of actual costs; the choice can be made again each year.
• Your own use counts too. A holiday home is subject to an imputed rental value, whatever the actual length of your own stays. How it combines with the rents received is something to settle with your fiduciary.
• The property is also subject to wealth tax on its tax value, with debts deductible in proportion, and to a communal property tax.

The tourist tax is a separate matter: it is owed by the guests, collected by the host and remitted to the municipality. For the properties we manage, collection, declaration and remittance are automated; each resort has its own rules, as our guide to the tourist tax in Verbier shows.

In your country of residence: what the treaty says

Switzerland’s double taxation treaties with the four countries below follow the same logic for property: under article 6, income from immovable property may be taxed in the state where the property is located, so Switzerland taxes it. Your country of residence then avoids double taxation, but each one does so in its own way.

United Kingdom

Under the 1977 treaty between Switzerland and the United Kingdom, amended by a 2017 protocol, Switzerland taxes the rental income from the Valais property. The UK also taxes it, as part of your worldwide income, and grants Foreign Tax Credit Relief for the Swiss tax, capped at the UK tax due on that income (HMRC helpsheet HS263). The income is reported on the foreign pages of the Self Assessment return (SA106) and calculated under UK rules. Swiss wealth tax and property tax are not income taxes: do not count on a credit for them.

If you moved to the UK recently, check whether the regime for foreign income and gains (FIG), in place since 6 April 2025, applies to you. It can exempt foreign income during the first four years of UK residence for people who arrive after ten tax years of non-residence, on a claim made source by source, and claiming it has a cost, such as the loss of the personal allowance.

France

Under the 1966 treaty between Switzerland and France, the rental income is taxable in Switzerland (art. 6). France takes it into account but grants a tax credit equal to the French tax on that income, provided you are subject to Swiss tax (art. 25 A). In practice, this works like an exemption that still counts towards the rate applied to your other income. The income is reported on form 2047 (foreign income) and carried over to the main return, where the credit appears on line 8TK. The notice to form 2047 also deals with social charges on this income: ask your adviser how it applies to your case, particularly if you are covered by the health insurance scheme of another European country or of Switzerland.

Belgium

Under the 1978 treaty between Switzerland and Belgium, amended in 2014, the income is taxable in Switzerland (art. 6), and Belgium exempts it while keeping the right to take it into account for the rate applied to your other income (art. 23). For an individual, the exemption applies only to the extent that the income is actually taxed in Switzerland. Since the 2022 tax year, a property located abroad is taxed in Belgium on a cadastral income, like a Belgian property: the Federal Public Service Finance asks owners to declare the foreign property via MyMinfin to obtain it, before reporting it in the return with the exemption.

Netherlands

Under the 2010 treaty between Switzerland and the Netherlands, amended in 2019, the income is taxable in Switzerland (art. 6). The Netherlands exempts it by granting a reduction of Dutch tax, calculated under Dutch law (art. 22). For a property held as an investment, the Belastingdienst applies this method in box 3: the property is declared at its value, then the reduction to avoid double taxation is claimed in the return. If the rental comes with services such as linen or meals, the Belastingdienst indicates that the income may fall into another box: check the classification with your adviser.

Whatever your country, the Swiss documents you will be asked for are the same: the Valais assessment, proof of the tax paid and a statement of rents and expenses. The monthly statement we send owners, with nights, income, expenses and tourist tax, is designed to feed both returns.

Insurance when you live abroad

Insurance is the point foreign owners most often overlook, because cover that works in their home country rarely follows them to a Swiss holiday home.

• The building. Valais does not impose compulsory building insurance. In a condominium (PPE), the community of owners insures the building: fire, natural hazards, water damage and building liability. Ask the administrator for the certificate.
• The contents. Take out a separate Swiss contents policy for the holiday home and declare in writing that it is rented to paying guests through a manager. Check the cover for damage caused by guests and the theft extension: cover for theft by guests is often limited.
• Liability. Swiss private liability insurance generally ends when the policyholder is domiciled abroad. You need owner’s or landlord’s liability cover attached to the property, or a holiday-home product open to owners domiciled abroad. Some Swiss insurers’ general terms explicitly provide for policyholders domiciled abroad, while others end cover when the policyholder lives outside Switzerland: ask in writing before signing.
• Platform guarantees. Airbnb states that its damage protection for hosts is not an insurance policy. It does not replace your own cover.

The Lex Koller: temporary rental yes, year-round no

Foreign nationals who live outside Switzerland generally buy a holiday home with a cantonal authorisation under the Lex Koller, the federal law on the acquisition of real estate by persons abroad. The Federal Office of Justice is clear on renting: a holiday home may be rented out periodically, but not for a whole year, and the buyer must be able to use it at any time (art. 11 para. 2 let. f of the implementing ordinance).

Short-term rental between your own stays is therefore compatible with the Lex Koller; a year-round lease is not. In April 2026, the Federal Council also put out for consultation a draft that would further restrict the acquisition of holiday homes by persons abroad: if you plan to sell to a buyer who lives abroad, check where this reform stands.

The other side of the regulatory picture, the Lex Weber on second homes, does not prevent renting either; our article on the Lex Weber explained to owners covers it.

What stays with you, what we handle

Your tax return in Valais, your return in your country of residence, your insurance contracts and any formalities with the authorities remain in your name: they are your obligations as owner, and you handle them with your fiduciary and your adviser. What we take on is everything the rental itself generates: collection, declaration and remittance of the tourist tax, the guest register, and a monthly statement with the figures your advisers need.

Our guide on managing a ski chalet from abroad describes what happens on site between two stays, and our page on Airbnb management in Valais presents the six resorts where we operate. To find out what your property could earn, our free audit gives you an estimate within 24 hours.

Sources

• Valais tax law (LF, RS/VS 642.1), art. 3, 6 and 134a: lex.vs.ch
• Guide to the 2025 tax return, Valais cantonal tax administration (SCC)
• Switzerland and United Kingdom: UK tax treaties with Switzerland, HMRC helpsheet HS263 and SA106 foreign pages
• Switzerland and France: treaty of 9 September 1966 (RS 0.672.934.91), notice to form 2047
• Switzerland and Belgium: treaty of 28 August 1978 (RS 0.672.917.21), FPS Finance on foreign cadastral income
• Switzerland and Netherlands: treaty of 26 February 2010 (RS 0.672.963.61), Belastingdienst, Fiscale informatie 2026
• Lex Koller: Federal Office of Justice, questions and answers

This article sets out general principles as they stood in the official sources in November 2026. It is not individual tax, legal or insurance advice. For your situation, consult a Valais fiduciary, a tax adviser in your country of residence and your insurer.