Pillar 3a for the self-employed 2026: up to CHF 36,288, by 31 December

As a self-employed person without a pension fund, you may pay up to 20 % of your net profit into pillar 3a in 2026, at most CHF 36,288, and deduct the full amount from your taxable income (Art. 7 para. 1 lit. b BVV 3, the Swiss ordinance on pillar 3a). To count for 2026, the payment must be credited to your 3a account by 31 December 2026 at the latest.

Law as of 11 November 2026

Information, not tax or legal advice.

If you belong to a pension fund (Pensionskasse), the "small" pillar 3a applies, with at most CHF 7,258. That covers most owners of a GmbH or AG who pay themselves a salary. New since 2026: you can make up for gaps from the year 2025 onwards.

The maximum amounts for 2026 and 2027

All of these amounts are tied to the upper limit of occupational pensions (Art. 8 para. 1 BVG): 40 % of it for the large pillar 3a, 8 % for the small one. That limit rises from CHF 90,720 to CHF 92,160 in 2027, so the 3a maximums rise too. The Federal Council set the 2027 values on 2 October 2026.

Who may pay into pillar 3a

You may contribute if you earn income in Switzerland that is subject to AHV (the Swiss old-age insurance). For the self-employed this means: the Ausgleichskasse (AHV compensation office) has recognised you as self-employed, and your business makes a profit.

• Net profit is what counts. The 20 % is calculated on the net profit from self-employment, not on turnover. The canton of Aargau's tax return guide, for example, says so.
• A loss means no deduction. If your business year ends with a loss, you cannot deduct a 3a contribution for that year.
• Employment with a pension fund: if you are also employed and belong to a pension fund, the small pillar 3a applies to you (Art. 7 para. 1 lit. a BVV 3).
• Switching during the year: if you move from employment to self-employment, you may deduct CHF 7,258 for the period of employment and 20 % of the self-employed profit, together at most CHF 36,288 (canton of Aargau, guide 2026).
• Married couples: if both spouses work and both have a 3a contract, each may pay in their own maximum (Art. 7 para. 2 BVV 3).
• Age: you can contribute up to five years past the reference age as long as you keep working. In the year you stop working, the full contribution is still allowed (Art. 7 paras. 3 and 4 BVV 3).

If you join a pension fund voluntarily as a self-employed person, for example that of your professional association (Art. 44 BVG), your 3a maximum drops to the small pillar 3a.

GmbH and AG: salary with a pension fund means the small pillar 3a

If you work in your own GmbH or AG and draw a salary, you are an employee for AHV purposes (Art. 5 para. 2 AHVG). Above an annual salary of CHF 22,680 (2027: CHF 23,040), occupational pension cover is compulsory (Arts. 2 and 7 BVG): the company insures you with a pension fund. So the small pillar 3a applies, with CHF 7,258 in 2026.

Dividends do not count. They are not AHV wages and so not earned income for pillar 3a. If you only pay yourself dividends, your company gives you no 3a entitlement. The large pillar 3a is an advantage of the Einzelfirma without a pension fund; in a GmbH you build your retirement savings through the pension fund.

The deadline: the money must be in the account on 31 December

What counts for the deduction is the date the money is credited to the 3a account, not the day you send the transfer. The Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV) puts it plainly: the contribution must be credited by 31 December of the current year at the latest. 31 December 2026 is a Thursday; allow a few bank working days.

If you miss the deadline, you lose the deduction for 2026. From 2027 you can close that gap only through a buy-in, within the limits below. Your 3a provider issues a certificate for each year (Art. 8 BVV 3), which goes with your tax return.

How to work out your maximum

1. Check whether you belong to a pension fund. If yes, your 2026 maximum is CHF 7,258 and you are done.
2. Take your expected 2026 net profit from your books. The annual accounts are only final after New Year, so estimate carefully in December.
3. Calculate 20 % of it.
4. Compare the result with CHF 36,288. The lower amount is your maximum.
5. Transfer the amount so that it is credited before 31 December.
6. Attach your 3a provider's certificate to your 2026 tax return.

Worked example: graphic designer with an Einzelfirma in Zurich

A graphic designer runs an Einzelfirma in Zurich with no pension fund. Her 2026 net profit is CHF 80,000.

• 20 % of CHF 80,000 = CHF 16,000. That is below CHF 36,288, so she may pay in CHF 16,000.
• In 2025 her profit was CHF 70,000. Her maximum was 20 % of that, CHF 14,000. She paid in CHF 10,000. Her 2025 gap is CHF 14,000 − CHF 10,000 = CHF 4,000.
• In 2026 she first pays the full yearly contribution of CHF 16,000, then CHF 4,000 as a buy-in. The CHF 4,000 is below the buy-in limit of CHF 7,258.
• Total deduction for 2026: CHF 16,000 + CHF 4,000 = CHF 20,000.

The effect on the direct federal tax follows from the 2026 tariff for single people (Art. 36 para. 1 DBG, the Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation). Suppose her taxable income without pillar 3a would be CHF 70,000:

She saves CHF 968.40 − CHF 400.80 = CHF 567.60 in federal tax. On top comes the saving on cantonal and communal tax: the deduction applies in the same way to the direct taxes of the Confederation, cantons and communes (Art. 7 para. 1 BVV 3). How much that is in Zurich depends on her commune's tax multiplier (Steuerfuss); the ESTV tax calculator shows it for every commune.

Buy-ins: closing gaps from 2025

Since 1 January 2025 you may make up missing 3a contributions and deduct them (Art. 7a BVV 3). The first buy-in is possible in tax year 2026, for 2025. The conditions:

1. The gap lies within the ten years before the buy-in, and no earlier than 2025. Gaps from 2024 and earlier can never be filled (transitional provision to the amendment of 6 November 2024).
2. In the gap year you had income subject to AHV and were entitled to contribute.
3. In the buy-in year you first pay the full regular contribution.
4. The buy-in is capped at 8 % of the BVG upper limit, CHF 7,258 in 2026, even if you are entitled to the large pillar 3a.
5. Each yearly gap can be closed with one buy-in only; one buy-in may close several gaps.
6. You apply for the buy-in in writing to your 3a provider, stating the amount, the gap years and the contributions paid at the time with their payment dates (Art. 7b BVV 3).

Once you have drawn 3a retirement benefits, no more buy-ins are possible. Like the yearly contribution, a buy-in is fully deductible from taxable income.

When you can withdraw the money and how it is taxed

Pillar 3a savings can be paid out at the earliest five years before the reference age and fall due at the reference age; if you keep working, you can defer the withdrawal by up to five years (Art. 3 para. 1 BVV 3). Earlier withdrawal is possible only for specific reasons:

• to buy a home for your own use or repay a mortgage, once every five years (Art. 3 paras. 3 and 4 BVV 3);
• if you give up your current self-employed activity and take up a different one (Art. 3 para. 2 lit. c BVV 3);
• if you start self-employment and are no longer subject to compulsory occupational pension cover, or leave Switzerland for good (Art. 3 para. 2 lit. d BVV 3 with Art. 5 FZG, the Vested Benefits Act);
• with a full disability pension if the disability risk is not insured (Art. 3 para. 2 lit. a BVV 3).

If you are married, an early withdrawal needs your spouse's written consent (Art. 3 para. 6 BVV 3).

The withdrawal is taxed separately from your other income. Federally, the tax is one fifth of the normal tariff (Art. 38 DBG); the cantons also tax the lump sum separately (Art. 11 para. 3 StHG). Federal example, single person, CHF 100,000 withdrawn in 2026: the tariff gives CHF 1,502.95 + 179 × CHF 6.60 = CHF 2,684.35, and one fifth of that is about CHF 537.

What Germans and Swiss mix up

• No Rürup, no Riester: these German pension products do not exist in Switzerland. The Swiss counterpart for the self-employed is the large pillar 3a.
• A percentage, not a flat amount: the large pillar 3a is not one fixed sum for everyone but 20 % of your net profit, capped at CHF 36,288.
• AHV is compulsory, pillar 3a is not: as a self-employed person you pay 10.0 % AHV/IV/EO to the Ausgleichskasse (Art. 8 AHVG). A pension fund is voluntary for you (Art. 4 BVG), and so is pillar 3a.

Norman in Switzerland

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Frequently asked questions

How much can I pay into pillar 3a as a self-employed person in 2026?

Without a pension fund, 20 % of your net profit, at most CHF 36,288. With a pension fund, at most CHF 7,258. In 2027 the limits rise to CHF 36,864 and CHF 7,373 (Art. 7 BVV 3).

What is the pillar 3a deadline?

The money must be credited to your 3a account by 31 December at the latest. The credit date counts, not the date of your payment order.

Can I make up missed pillar 3a years?

Yes, for gaps from 2025 onwards, for the first time in 2026. You first pay the full yearly contribution and may then buy in up to CHF 7,258 on top (Art. 7a BVV 3).

I have a GmbH. Can I use the large pillar 3a?

Usually not. If you draw a salary above CHF 22,680, you are insured in the GmbH's pension fund and the small pillar 3a of CHF 7,258 applies. Dividends do not count as earned income.

What happens to pillar 3a if my business makes a loss?

You cannot deduct a 3a contribution for that year because you have no earned income. A later buy-in for that year requires that you earned income subject to AHV in it (Arts. 7a and 7b BVV 3).