Price watchdog criticizes land registry fees linked to purchase price
Published: Tuesday, Jun 18th 2024, 11:40
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Fees should generally be based on the administrative costs. However, land registry and notary fees are linked to the purchase price of a property in many cantons. Price supervisor Stefan Meierhans calls on these cantons to examine fixed fees.
Only Bern and Basel-Landschaft have a fixed fee for the land register entry, as Meierhans wrote in Tuesday's newsletter following a survey. The other cantons link the land register and notarization fees to the purchase price.
As property prices have more than doubled on average since 2000 and wages have only risen by 25 percent in the same period, the price watchdog therefore assumes a disproportionate increase in transfer fees.
The income of the public sector and notaries would increase even if the fee rates remained constant. Meierhans therefore expects the cantons with such a "profit-sharing model" to review it with regard to the principle of cost recovery. They should adhere to the principle that fees should at most cover expenses.
The cost of registration and notarization is likely to depend more on other factors than on the rise in property prices. Cantons with a system linked to the purchase price should examine fixed land register fees, advised Meierhans.
These could be staggered, but should be based on the actual administrative costs. As the price supervisor must be consulted on every politically determined price, he expects proposals soon, as he wrote.
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