Background
#The canton of Bern treats installing a photovoltaic or solar thermal system as an investment that saves energy and protects the environment, and allows it as a maintenance deduction from income.
Since tax year 2024, this also applies to systems on new builds for cantonal and municipal tax, which many other cantons exclude. Only self-borne costs are deductible: incentives and the one-off payment are netted off. Income from exported electricity is now taxable only to the extent it exceeds your electricity costs, and for systems up to 10 kWp no declaration is needed at all. This page summarises published Bern practice and does not replace an assessment of your case.
For your roof
What the deduction means for your home
The report for your address combines the one-off payment, cantonal incentives and tax deduction, with net investment and payback.
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What drives the economics
#Deduction as maintenance, including new builds: under Bern’s practice note on photovoltaic and solar thermal systems held as private assets (from 1 January 2024), investment costs are deducted from income as maintenance. Investments from 2024 no longer count as capital costs even on a new build. The cantonal government stated that this change concerns cantonal and municipal tax; for the direct federal tax, Art. 1(1) of the property cost ordinance limits the deduction to existing buildings.
Incentives are netted off: only what you bore yourself is deductible. Subsidies such as incentive payments and the one-off payment must be declared and are netted against the investment costs. If the amount is not yet known in the year of invoicing, you may deduct the costs in full and then tax the subsidy in full as income in the year its amount is fixed.
Battery and charging station count: an energy storage system fed by your own photovoltaic system is deductible. The same applies to an EV charging station if it is partly fed by your own system. Mobile plug-and-play balcony systems, by contrast, do not qualify.
The year of invoicing counts: costs are deductible in the tax year in which the invoice was issued. An excess is carried forward only if net income becomes negative, and then to at most two following tax years. In the following year you choose between the carried-forward excess and the flat-rate deduction.
Feed-in on a net basis, small systems without declaration: periodic payments are other income, but variable electricity costs may be netted off. Systems of at most 10 kWp fall under a de minimis limit and need not be declared. Above that, the tax administration’s example is CHF 1,500 in electricity sales minus CHF 1,200 in electricity costs, i.e. CHF 300 net income. The system does not raise the imputed rental value.
Ownership is a precondition: only the owner of both the land and the system can deduct. With contracting, the system usually remains the contractor’s property, so neither installation nor fees are deductible. Anyone who buys a house with a finished system did not install it and cannot claim the deduction either.
From 2029 the Confederation changes the system: with the change in residential property taxation, maintenance costs for owner-occupied homes will no longer be deductible for the direct federal tax from 1 January 2029. Cantons may provide deductions for energy saving and environmental protection until 2050 at the latest (Art. 78h StHG); check with the tax administration how Bern will implement this.
The process in six steps
#Tick off for your project
Check ownership
make sure you own both the property and the system, without retention of title or contracting. Rental, leasing or contracting models rule out the deduction.
Have invoices issued to you
if you buy a new build or a condominium unit off plan, you must already own the land at installation and be the contracting party and invoice recipient, bearing the costs directly. If the system is included in a general contractor’s purchase price, the contractor counts as installer.
Record incentives
declare incentive payments and the one-off payment. If the amount is still open, deduct the costs in full and tax the subsidy in the year it is fixed.
Note the invoice year
allocate the system, battery and charging station to the tax year of invoicing. The tax administration sets any carry-forward ex officio when net income is negative.
Note system size and electricity figures
record the maximum output in kWp. Above 10 kWp, declare electricity sales minus electricity costs as net income; the threshold applies to the whole system, not per party.
Declare the asset
enter the system’s purchase value with your property. 20 percent of it is taxed, regardless of the year of purchase.
Checked for your roof, not just read up on
What the deduction means for your home
The report for your address combines the one-off payment, cantonal incentives and tax deduction, with net investment and payback.
Free and non-binding · no unsolicited calls
Rather talk directly? +41 78 615 90 58
Frequently asked questions
#Sources
#The responsible authorities are decisive. Always verify binding details – amounts, deadlines and conditions – for your specific property against the current status of the respective authority.