Pillar 3a Contributions in Arrears Coming Soon

Making up for past years in which you did not use the full pillar 3a contribution will be possible from 2026. The first year for which pillar 3a contributions can be paid in arrears is 2025. In other words, you will be able to close gaps in your pillar 3a retirement savings that occur from 2025 onwards.

Closing gaps that occurred before 2024 is not possible

The decision not to allow retirement savers to close gaps that occur before the new legislation comes into effect will likely come as a disappointment for many residents. It is not possible to make pillar 3a contributions in arrears for years up until 2024.

There are conditions that must be met

There are certain conditions that must be met in order to close gaps in your pillar 3a retirement savings (from 2026). The most important eligibility requirements are:

• You have already contributed the maximum annual pillar 3a contribution for people with an occupational pension fund (around 7200 francs, subject to change) for the current year.
• The annual limit on the amount you can contribute towards gaps in previous years is identical to the maximum annual pillar 3a contribution for people with an occupational pension fund (7258 francs in 2025).
• Your income is subject to OASI contributions. This must be the case in the current year in which you make the contributions in arrears. It must also have been the case in the past years in which gaps occurred. As an employee of a Swiss company, your OASI contributions are deducted from your salary by your employer.
• You can only close pillar 3a gaps that occurred in the 10 years leading up to the year in which you make the contributions in arrears. Note that the first year for which you will be able to close gaps is 2025, meaning the first year in which you can make a payment in arrears will be 2026.  
• A pillar 3a gap in a previous calendar year must be closed in full with a single contribution in arrears. It is not possible to make partial payments over several years towards a gap in one calendar year. However, you are allowed to close gaps from multiple calendar years with one single contribution in arrears, as long as the contributions is sufficient to fully close all of the annual gaps in question.
• You have not made any standard withdrawals from the pillar 3a. Once you begin making withdrawals from the pillar 3a on account of reaching the age of eligibility (five years before standard retirement age), you can no longer make additional contributions in arrears to close gaps from previous years.

Contributions to the pillar 3a in arrears can be deducted from your taxable income, in addition to the standard pillar 3a tax deduction.

You can close gaps in your pillar 3a for years in which you did not contribute anything to the pillar 3a, and for years in which you did not make the maximum contribution.

You have to apply to make contributions in arrears

In order to close gaps in your pillar 3a for previous years, you have to submit an application to your pillar 3a retirement foundation. It is likely that retirement foundations will make forms available for this process. You need to specify the amount you want to contribute, and the years for which you want to close pillar 3a gaps.

No special rules for self-employed people

The rules for standard pillar 3a contributions and tax deductions are different for people with an occupational pension fund (typically employees) and those without a pension fund (typically self-employed people). But the limit for contributions in arrears is identical for both. The maximum amount you can contribute towards closing gaps in your pillar 3a for previous years is always around 7200 francs (subject to change every two years).

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