Pillar 3a in 2026: Limits, Deadline and Tax Savings

For 2026, the pillar 3a maximum is the same as in 2025. It is CHF 7'258 if you belong to a pension fund (BVG). Without a pension fund, it is 20% of your earned income, up to CHF 36'288 (FSIO FAQ, amounts 2025/26). A payment counts for 2026 only if it is credited to your 3a account by 31 December 2026 (FSIO, 27 Nov 2025).

New this year: if you paid in less than the maximum in 2025, you can close that gap with a buy-in in 2026. This comes on top of your full 2026 contribution. Both are deductible from taxable income. Below you find the limits, the deadline, the buy-in conditions and a simple illustration of the tax effect.

How much you can pay in for 2026

The limits are set in Art. 7 of the ordinance BVV 3 (Fedlex, BVV 3, as of 1 Jan 2025). The amount for people with a pension fund, called the small contribution, is usually adjusted every two years. For 2026 nothing changes.

• With a pension fund: employees and self-employed people who belong to a 2nd pillar pension fund. The limit is a fixed amount, whatever your salary.
• Without a pension fund: for example self-employed people without a 2nd pillar, or employees not insured in one. The limit is 20% of earned income, at most CHF 36'288. For employees, earned income is gross salary minus AHV/IV/EO/ALV contributions. For the self-employed, it is the business result after tax adjustments and personal AHV/IV/EO contributions (ESTV, Circular No. 18a, 22 Dec 2025).
• Couples: if both partners work and each has their own 3a, each can deduct up to their own limit (Art. 7 para. 2 BVV 3).
• Several accounts: you may hold several 3a accounts or policies. The yearly limit applies to the total of all payments.

To pay in at all, you need earned income subject to AHV. People who receive benefits from Swiss unemployment insurance can also build a pillar 3a (FSIO, 10 Feb 2026).

Why the money must arrive before 31 December

A 3a contribution is deductible for 2026 only if it is paid by 31 December 2026. What counts is the day it is credited to your personal 3a account or policy. A debit from your own bank account is not enough. Nor is a credit to the general bank account of the 3a provider (ESTV, Circular No. 18a).

So do not wait for the last days of December. Transfers take time, and providers can set their own processing deadlines before the end of the year.

If you are taxed at source and live in Switzerland, 3a payments are not included in the withholding tax tariff. By 31 March of the following year, you can apply in writing for a subsequent ordinary assessment. This does not apply if you are already subject to a mandatory one (ESTV, Circular No. 18a).

New in 2026: a buy-in for a missed 2025

Since 1 January 2025, BVV 3 allows buy-ins into pillar 3a (Art. 7a BVV 3). The first buy-in is possible in tax year 2026, for a gap from 2025. Gaps from 2024 or earlier cannot be closed (FSIO, 10 Feb 2026).

The conditions:

• You had earned income subject to AHV in Switzerland both in the year of the gap and in the year of the buy-in.
• In the buy-in year, you first pay your full regular contribution. With a pension fund, that is CHF 7'258 in 2026.
• Per year, a buy-in can be at most the small contribution of the buy-in year: CHF 7'258 in 2026. This cap also applies if you have no pension fund (FSIO FAQ, 2025/26).
• Gaps can be closed up to ten years back. Each year's gap can be closed by one buy-in only, but one buy-in may cover several years.
• You have not yet drawn an old-age benefit from pillar 3a.
• You apply in writing to your 3a provider, stating the amount, the years concerned and the contributions already paid (Art. 7b BVV 3).

Example with a pension fund: you paid in CHF 3'000 in 2025. Your 2025 gap is CHF 4'258. In 2026 you first pay CHF 7'258, then you can buy in CHF 4'258. If you paid nothing in 2025, the buy-in can reach CHF 7'258, so CHF 14'516 in total in 2026.

A buy-in is deductible in the year you make it (FSIO, 27 Nov 2025). To deduct it in 2026, you therefore have to make it in 2026.

What it saves in tax: a simple illustration

3a contributions and buy-ins are deducted from income for the direct federal tax and for cantonal and communal taxes (Art. 7 and 7a BVV 3). How much tax this saves depends on your marginal tax rate. That is the rate on your last franc of income. It varies with canton, municipality, income, family situation and church tax.

The table below is an illustration, not a calculation for a real case. It multiplies the deduction by three assumed marginal rates.

To see how much rates differ between cantons, read our post on tax by canton. Other deductions are covered in the deductions people forget. While the money stays in pillar 3a, it is exempt from wealth tax, and its returns are not subject to withholding tax (ESTV, Circular No. 18a).

The saving is not the whole story. When you withdraw, the capital is taxed separately from your other income. Under Art. 38 DBG, the direct federal tax is calculated at one fifth of the normal tariff (ESTV, Circular No. 18a). Cantons also tax capital benefits from pension provision separately, under their own tariffs (Art. 11 para. 3 StHG).

In return, the money is tied up. Old-age benefits are paid at the earliest five years before the AHV reference age. Earlier withdrawal is possible only in specific cases. Examples are buying a home for your own use, starting self-employment or leaving Switzerland for good (FSIO, 10 Feb 2026).

Account or securities: the difference in neutral terms

Only two forms are allowed in pillar 3a: a tied pension agreement with a bank foundation, or a tied pension insurance policy with an insurer (FSIO, 10 Feb 2026).

• 3a account: the money is held as a balance with the bank foundation and earns interest. The provider sets the rate, and it can change.
• 3a securities: the bank foundation invests the money in an individual securities deposit opened for you. The value can go up and down. You can get back less than you paid in.
• 3a insurance: a policy with an insurer. It can include extra risk cover. Part of the premium then pays for that cover rather than for savings.

Which form fits you depends on your time horizon and on how much fluctuation you can live with. This article does not compare or rank providers or products. The limits and the 31 December rule are the same for all forms.

Where Eini fits

The Taxes module in Eini estimates your taxes from official ESTV data for your municipality. It shows your net salary line by line, compares cantons and includes a deduction check. The result is an estimate, not an official tax assessment. Taxes is part of Eini Premium, at CHF 3 a week or CHF 90 a year. The weekly and yearly plans come with a 7-day free trial.