Property, people and the operating business

Buying a home and business premises

The Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad of 16 December 1983, known after Federal Councillor Arnold Koller as the Lex Koller, restricts the purchase of Swiss real estate by foreigners. For Italian entrepreneurs who actually move to Ticino the restriction hardly matters. Nationals of EU and EFTA states may acquire real estate without authorization if they have their lawful and actual residence in Switzerland.¹ The holder of a B EU/EFTA permit who lives in Lugano may therefore buy a flat, a house or a building plot like a Swiss resident. The decisive word is actual. A purchase made by a person who holds a permit but does not live in Ticino is a purchase by a person abroad. The land registry or the competent cantonal authority may later find that the acquisition required an authorization.

Business premises are also outside the restriction. A person abroad may acquire real estate without authorization if it serves as a permanent establishment for a commercial, manufacturing or other business conducted in a commercial manner.² A Swiss company controlled by an Italian resident may therefore buy its own offices, warehouse or factory in the Mendrisiotto. Holiday homes are different. Persons abroad need an authorization, which is granted within annual cantonal quotas set by the Federal Council within a national ceiling of 1,500 units.³ An Italian entrepreneur who buys a flat in Lugano before he moves, or keeps it after he returns to Italy, enters the regime of holiday homes, with its quotas and conditions.

The rules may become stricter. In 2026 the Federal Council put out for consultation, until 15 July 2026, a revision that would require an authorization for the purchase of a principal residence by holders of B permits from third countries and would oblige them to sell within two years if they leave. It would also subject the acquisition of business premises held purely as investments to authorization and reduce the cantonal quotas for holiday homes.⁴ The proposals concern third-country nationals in the first place, since the AFMP protects EU and EFTA nationals from discrimination. Italian entrepreneurs who own property in Ticino through companies or who acquire commercial property as an investment should follow the legislative process.

Moving employees: transfer of undertaking and permits

When a business unit moves from Italy to Ticino, its employees do not follow automatically. Italian law protects employees in the transfer of an undertaking under Article 2112 of the Civil Code, which preserves their employment relationships with the transferee.⁵ Swiss law contains a parallel rule in Article 333 of the Code of Obligations, under which the employment relationships pass to the acquirer with all rights and obligations unless the employee refuses the transfer.⁶ Neither provision obliges an employee to move to another country. An Italian employee who is asked to work in Lugano instead of Como may refuse. The Italian employer must then consider whether the refusal justifies a dismissal under Italian law, which requires a justified objective reason and is subject to Italian procedures for collective dismissals if the numbers are high.

Employees who accept the move need a Swiss permit. If they move their residence to Ticino, they receive a B EU/EFTA permit on the basis of the employment contract. If they continue to live in Italy and commute, they receive a cross-border commuter permit G. Its validity corresponds to the employment contract if it is shorter than twelve months and is five years for contracts of longer or indefinite duration.⁷ The taxation of new frontalieri who began work after 17 July 2023 follows the new Swiss- Italian agreement, under which Switzerland levies a withholding tax limited to 80 per cent of its ordinary tax and Italy taxes the worker as a resident with a credit for the Swiss tax. Chapter H.I describes the agreement and its transitional regime.⁸ For an employer moving staff to Ticino, the choice between residents and commuters affects salary negotiations, because Italian commuters compare their Swiss net salary after Italian tax with what they earned in Lombardy.

Notes

1. Roland Pfäffli and Mascha Santschi Kallay, article on the acquisition of real estate by persons abroad, Das Geld-Magazin 1/2025, https://private.ch/media/docs/private/2025/01/de/12_Grundstueckerwerb.pdf ("rechtmässigen und tatsächlichen Wohnsitz"). Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad of 16 December 1983 (ARPA), SR 211.412.41, Art. 5 para. 1 lit. a and a bis, text at droit-bilingue.ch, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-fr/2/21/211.412.41-5-8.html (EU and EFTA nationals are persons abroad only "sofern sie ihren rechtmässigen und tatsächlichen Wohnsitz nicht in der Schweiz haben"). ↩
2. Pfäffli and Santschi Kallay (above) ("Keiner Bewilligung bedarf hingegen der Erwerb durch eine Person im Ausland, wenn das Grundstück als ständige Betriebsstätte eines Handels-, Fabrikations- oder eines anderen nach kaufmännischer Art geführten Gewerbes ..."). ARPA, Art. 2 para. 2 lit. a, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-fr/2/21/211.412.41-2-5.html (also covering craft businesses and liberal professions). ↩
3. Pfäffli and Santschi Kallay (above) (national ceiling of 1,500 units). ARPA, Art. 11 paras 1 and 2, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-fr/2/21/211.412.41-11-15.html ("Die Höchstzahl nach Absatz 1 darf 1500 Kontingentseinheiten nicht überschreiten"). ↩
4. Antonin Weyeneth, article on the planned tightening of the Lex Koller, PwC Switzerland, 8 May 2026, https://www.pwc.ch/de/insights/steuern/lex-koller-verscharfungen-beim-erwerb.html. ↩
5. Codice civile, Art. 2112 para. 1, text at Brocardi.it, https://www.brocardi.it/codice-civile/libro-quinto/titolo-ii/capo-i/sezione-iii/art2112.html ("In caso di trasferimento d'azienda, il rapporto di lavoro continua con il cessionario"). ↩
6. Swiss Code of Obligations of 30 March 1911 (CO), SR 220, Art. 333 paras 1 and 2. ↩
7. Canton of Schwyz guidance (above) ("If the contract of employment is valid for more than one-year or unlimited, then the permit will be issued for five years and can be extended"). ↩
8. Agreement between Switzerland and Italy on the taxation of cross-border workers of 23 December 2020, Arts 3 and 9, as summarized in Repubblica e Cantone Ticino, Divisione delle contribuzioni, information sheet and FAQ on the new agreement, https://m4.ti.ch/fileadmin/DFE/DC/DOC-IF/nuovo_accordo/nuovo_accordo_foglio_informativo_FAQ.pdf (signed 23 December 2020, in force 17 July 2023, applicable from 1 January 2024; Swiss withholding limited to 80 per cent for new cross-border workers); see Chapter H.I. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of August 2025.