Drawing Säule 3a in stages: how to break the tax progression

The lump-sum withdrawal tax is progressive and is calculated each year on the total withdrawal. Closing several 3a accounts in different years costs significantly less.

When you draw Säule 3a, the capital is not added to your normal income but taxed separately, at a reduced rate — the lump-sum withdrawal tax. This tax is progressive: the larger the amount in a single calendar year, the higher the percentage.

The trick: several accounts, several years

A single 3a account always has to be closed in full — partial withdrawals are not possible. But if you keep several 3a accounts from the start, you can close them in different calendar years and so keep the taxable amount per year small.

Because the tax is computed each year on the sum of all capital withdrawals, staggering noticeably lowers the progression. Three accounts of CHF 100,000 over three years cost considerably less tax than CHF 300,000 in one go.

Withdrawals may start five years before the reference age — that gives a window of about five years to stagger the accounts.

Careful: everything in the same year adds up

The effect only works if the withdrawals fall in different years. Draw your 3a and a Pensionskasse capital payout in the same calendar year and you are taxed on the sum — landing back in the high progression. Married couples are also assessed jointly in many cantons.

The federal government wants to change it

There are political efforts to harmonise the federal tax on capital withdrawals and make staggering less attractive. Until then it remains one of the most effective and entirely legal tax tools of early retirement.

In the Pillar Zero calculator you can set the number of 3a accounts and see directly how staggering affects the tax bill — with real ESTV figures for your municipality.