Granting a right of purchase - intercantonal aspects

The granting of a right to purchase a property in return for payment constitutes income from immovable property for the owner (insofar as it is not subject to property gains tax), which is allocated to the canton in which the property is located for taxation as part of the intercantonal tax allocation.

However, if the beneficiary exercises the purchase right and the compensation is deemed to be a down payment on the purchase price, this must be included in the property gains tax (by revising the income tax decision if this was not yet clear at the time of assessment). In principle, the mere granting of a purchase right does not constitute an economic change of ownership pursuant to § 216 para. 2 lit. a StG Canton of Zurich. However, this may be the case if significant parts of the power of disposal over the property are transferred as part of the purchase right agreement (substitution clause, management of the property for own account, choice of tenants, etc.). An economic change of ownership also exists in the case of chain trading, i.e. if the person entitled to purchase allows a third party to enter into the purchase right agreement on the basis of a substitution clause and this third party becomes the owner of the property under civil law by exercising the purchase right or the third party is helped to acquire the property by waiving the exercise of the purchase right.

In the intercantonal relationship, the canton in which the property is located has the right to tax the consideration from the right to purchase. This should also apply if the seller sees this as a form of interest on the value of the property and interest would be allocated to the canton of residence on an intercantonal basis.

A careful analysis of the planned civil law procedure and the tax implications is essential in each individual case.