Pillar 3a until when to pay in?

Last update: 17.09.2024 08:33

At the latest at the turn of the year, many people are concerned with the deadline question: By when do I have to pay into the 3rd pillar? What is the latest deadline? And what is the deadline for the pillar 3a tax deduction? Read on and don’t miss the latest case law on the deadline for your pillar 3a payment.

In order to be allowed to pay into pillar 3a at all, you must have earned income for AHV purposes. Other types of income (such as rent, interest or dividends) do not entitle you to 3a tax deductions. You must have earned income. This is already the case with a salary from your apprenticeship or a vacation job. You must pay AHV contributions from 18 at the latest. Incidentally, you can pay into pillar 3a for a maximum of five years beyond the normal retirement age. But only if you continue to be gainfully employed.

If you have income that is subject to AHV contributions, you can deduct the contributions you pay into a pillar 3a from your taxes.

We’ll take a closer look at exactly who can pay how much into pillar 3a in another article. But let’s get to the real heart of the pillar 3a payment question. Namely, the question of the deadline for paying into pillar 3a.

Nobody talks about “having to” make a pillar 3a payment. Whether you pay into pillar 3a or not is a completely voluntary decision. Although we believe that there are more good reasons to do so than not.
In principle, you can make your contributions at any time of the year. You can spread the payments over several months or make the maximum amount in one payment. And you can also spread the payments over several providers or several accounts with one provider. Or you can mix several providers (e.g. insurance, bank, digital pension app) and several accounts (pension account, securities solution with different investment strategies).
In another article, we showed that it is best to pay in your contributions at the beginning of the year.

In principle, the sum of your payments received in pension accounts in one year is eligible for deduction for the same tax year. However, the sum is limited to the small or large maximum amount.

Let’s take an example. You are employed for the whole year and pay in 300 francs every month, i.e. a total of 3,600 francs. This year, you can deduct the sum of your payments of CHF 3,600 from your taxes. Although the small maximum amount would be higher, you can only deduct the total of your payments.

You no longer know exactly how much you have paid in? No problem, your pension fund will let you know automatically shortly after the turn of the year. If you have paid into various providers, simply add up the amounts from the receipts. You then transfer the total to your tax return. However, you may only claim the small or large deduction at most. You can find out more about the contribution amounts in this article.

In many places you will read that the deposit must be made by 31.12. of the year. This is imprecise and can cost you a lot of money. This is because a payment must not only be made in the tax year, but must also be credited to your individual pension account. The relevant time and date for entitlement to the pillar 3a tax deduction is therefore the time at which it is posted to your pension account. Give banks and your Pillar 3a Foundation a few working days to do this. If your payment is not posted to the pension fund in the calendar year of the payment, you cannot claim the deduction for the calendar year, but only for the following year.

Incidentally, it is not possible to make back payments of “missed” pillar 3a contributions for previous years.

Oh no, stupid, bad luck! You missed the tax deduction for the old year. Your deposit will now be attributed to the new year. The decisive factor is not the date of your payment or debit to your account, but the time when the money is posted to your retirement savings account. It is also not the time when it is credited to the (general) postal or bank account of the pension fund that counts. No, what counts is when the pension fund posts it to your account. This was decided in the Federal Supreme Court ruling 2C_259/2022 of December 7, 2022. Mr. Lastminute from Bern had paid a pillar 3a contribution from his postal account on 29 December 2017 (a Friday). Due to the weekend and public holidays (Saturday, Sunday, New Year, Berchtoldstag), the money was only credited to his pension account on Wednesday, January 3, 2018. His 3a payment was therefore attributed to 2018.

The Federal Supreme Court justifies the tightening of the previous practice as follows: 3a contributions may be deducted from taxes if they are used “exclusively and irrevocably” for pension provision. However, this is only the case when the payment is irrevocably booked to your pension account. Only then can you no longer dispose of it in any other way. And incidentally, the money only enters the pension cycle when it is credited to the account, which obliges the pension fund to issue a corresponding tax certificate.

Incidentally, this rule also applies analogously to purchases into the 2nd pillar.

It doesn’t matter when you pay in during the year. We recommend that you pay in the maximum amount at the beginning of the year. Is that too much for you all at once? Then set up a standing order for each month that transfers money to your pillar 3a immediately after the payday. If you pay in at the end of the year: don’t do it too late. It’s best to transfer the amount well before Christmas, preferably in mid-December. You need to make sure that the money actually arrives in your pension account by the end of the year and that the pension fund can still post it to your account. Only then can you claim the tax deduction in the same year. Under the current legal situation, you cannot make up for “missed” payments.