Buying property in Bosnia from Switzerland: POA, CHF, tax

You can buy property in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) from Switzerland without travelling, by giving someone a certified power of attorney. You can certify it with a Swiss notary plus an apostille, or at the BiH embassy in Bern. Paying by bank transfer is the safest route, under terms your bank and the BiH notary confirm. In Switzerland you declare the BiH property in your tax return: it is generally not taxed there directly, but it affects your tax rate.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. For your own case, a notary or lawyer in BiH and a tax adviser or your cantonal tax office in Switzerland confirm the details.

Who can buy from Switzerland

Start by checking the capacity in which you are buying.

• You hold BiH citizenship (as well as Swiss): dual citizens are treated in BiH as BiH citizens, so reciprocity does not apply to you.
• You hold Swiss citizenship only: under the Laws on Property Rights (Zakon o stvarnim pravima) of the Federation of BiH (FBiH) and Republika Srpska (RS), foreigners can acquire property only where there is reciprocity, meaning BiH citizens can buy in the foreigner's country on similar terms. Exceptions are inheritance, gifts and cases covered by an international treaty. The FBiH and RS justice ministries publish lists of reciprocity countries and update them by 31 January each year. Check whether Switzerland is on the current lists, and under what conditions, or ask a notary before you pay a kapara (deposit). Brčko District has its own Law on Property Rights, so check it separately if you buy there.

More detail: Can foreigners buy property in Bosnia? Reciprocity and exceptions.

Certifying a power of attorney in Switzerland

Most buyers abroad do not appear at the BiH notary in person. They give a power of attorney (punomoć) to someone they trust, such as a family member or a lawyer. There are two usual routes.

1. Swiss notary and apostille

Switzerland and BiH are both listed as parties to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. An apostille is a standard certificate that confirms a signature or seal is genuine, so a document certified in Switzerland needs no further legalisation at the BiH embassy.

The usual steps:

1. The power of attorney is written in one of BiH's official languages (Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian), not in German, French or Italian.
2. A Swiss notary certifies your signature.
3. The competent Swiss authority adds the apostille to the certified document. The notary who certified your signature can tell you which authority this is in your canton.
4. You send the original to your representative in BiH.

An apostille issued by a Swiss authority names Switzerland as the issuing country. That is correct.

2. BiH embassy in Bern

If you have a valid BiH passport or ID card, you can certify the power of attorney at the embassy. BiH embassies only serve their own consular area, so for Switzerland that is the embassy in Bern. Based on the practice of other BiH embassies, you will usually need:

• the original power of attorney, which you sign in front of an embassy official,
• a copy of your valid BiH passport or ID card (bring the originals to show),
• proof that the consular fee has been paid.

Check the fee in CHF, appointment times and the exact procedure directly with the embassy in Bern before you go.

What to agree with the BiH notary first

In BiH the sale contract is drawn up by a notary. Before you certify anything in Switzerland, send the draft power of attorney to the BiH notary and ask:

• whether a power of attorney for buying property must be in a special form,
• whether they accept a Swiss notary's certification with an apostille,
• what exactly it must contain: the property, the price, and authority to register you in the land registry (zemljišna knjiga).

This avoids having to certify a second document because the first one did not cover everything.

Paying from CHF

The rules here depend on your bank, the seller's bank and BiH regulations, and we do not present them as settled answers. The BiH currency, the convertible mark (KM), is pegged to the euro, so in practice a payment from Swiss francs usually goes through conversion into euro or directly into KM. Compare the exchange rate and conversion costs at your bank before transferring.

Before you pay, ask:

• Your Swiss bank: how long a transfer to BiH takes, what it costs and which rate it applies.
• The BiH notary: how and when the price is paid, and whether they need proof of payment and of where the money comes from.
• A BiH bank, if you open an account: the conditions for non-resident accounts.

If you plan to carry cash across the border, check the declaration thresholds with the Swiss customs authority (BAZG) and BiH's Indirect Taxation Authority (UIO). A bank transfer leaves a record that you will also need later for your Swiss tax return.

Swiss tax on property in BiH

Declaration and progression

If you are tax resident in Switzerland, you declare your worldwide wealth, including property in BiH. Real estate is taxed where it is located, so Switzerland generally does not tax the BiH flat directly. It does, however, count towards the rate applied to your Swiss income and wealth, known as exemption with progression (Progressionsvorbehalt). In practice this can mean slightly higher tax on what is taxed in Switzerland.

How the BiH property is valued for the declaration depends on the canton. Confirm this with your cantonal tax office or an adviser.

Abolition of imputed rental value from 2029

Imputed rental value (Eigenmietwert) is a notional rent that Swiss owners of homes they live in are taxed on as income. On 28 September 2025, voters and cantons accepted its abolition for first and second homes, with 57.73% voting yes and 16.5 cantons in favour. On 1 April 2026 the Federal Council set the start date as 1 January 2029. Until then, imputed rental value is still taxed as income and the existing deductions still apply. From 2029, cantons may charge a special tax on second homes mainly used by their owners.

How this will affect property abroad is not yet clear. If you use the BiH flat for holidays, ask an adviser how to declare it now and after 2029.

Double taxation treaty

Check with the Swiss Federal Tax Administration's treaty list or an adviser whether a double taxation treaty between Switzerland and BiH is in force. This matters especially if you plan to rent the flat out.

Steps from choosing to registration

1. Check your right to buy (citizenship, reciprocity).
2. Choose a property and check ownership through the land registry extract (ZK izvadak).
3. Agree the price and terms, possibly with a pre-contract.
4. Agree the content of the power of attorney with the BiH notary.
5. Certify it in Switzerland (notary plus apostille) or at the embassy in Bern.
6. Send the original to your representative.
7. Pay in the way agreed with the notary.
8. Your representative signs the contract at the notary, followed by registration in the land registry.
9. Declare the property in your Swiss tax return.

The full general process is in Buying property in Bosnia from abroad: a step-by-step guide. BiH-side costs (transfer tax, notary, fees) are covered in Costs of buying property in Bosnia.

Common mistakes

• A power of attorney in German or French. It needs to be in an official BiH language.
• Certifying before agreeing the wording with the BiH notary. A document that does not cover every step means certifying again and losing weeks.
• Paying a deposit before checking reciprocity. If you are only a Swiss citizen, first confirm you are allowed to buy.
• Paying cash with no record. It makes proving the source of funds and your Swiss declaration harder.
• Not declaring the property in Switzerland. The duty to declare applies even though the property is not taxed there directly.

Example

A buyer in Zurich with Swiss and BiH citizenship is looking for a two-room flat in Sarajevo. In DMI's listings the median asking price is 5,722 KM per m², and 54 m² two-room flats in Novo Sarajevo range from 309,000 to 355,000 KM. The buyer views the flat by video tour and agrees the power of attorney for his brother with a notary in Sarajevo. As a dual citizen he does not need to check reciprocity. He certifies the power of attorney with a notary in Zurich, adds the apostille and sends the original to Sarajevo. He pays by bank transfer, and the following year declares the flat in his cantonal tax return.

How DMI helps

DMI visits every listed property in person and checks the land registry, legalisation and photos before publishing. For buyers abroad we offer video tours and help coordinate the power of attorney and timing with the notary. We currently have eight flats in Sarajevo, which you can see in all properties.