Pillar 3a taxation 2026
Pillar 3a is first and foremost a tax arrangement. This guide covers the three moments that matter: paying in, holding, and taking out.
Paying in — the 2026 caps
With a pension fund: CHF 7'258 at most. Without a second pillar: 20 % of earned income, capped at CHF 36'288.
The amount paid in is fully deductible from taxable income, for direct federal tax as well as cantonal and municipal tax. The payment must be made before 31 December to count for the current year — a transfer on 2 January counts for the next one.
While the account runs
Pillar 3a capital does not count towards taxable wealth, and its returns are not subject to income tax. A quiet but continuous advantage, often forgotten in comparisons.
On withdrawal
The capital is taxed separately from the rest of your income, at a reduced rate, once. The scale is progressive: taking out a large capital sum in one go costs proportionally more than the same amount spread out.
Hence the practice of opening several 3a accounts and withdrawing them in different years. Cantons police this to varying degrees; it is a point to have checked before opening the third account, not after.
The permitted early withdrawals
- Buying or paying down your main residence.
- Leaving Switzerland for good.
- Becoming self-employed.
- Buying into a pension fund.
- Drawing a full disability pension.
What this guide does not do
It does not compute your personal saving. That depends on your marginal rate, hence on your municipality, and a single figure given without knowing it would be invented.