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Pillar 3a 2027: which maximum applies to which tax return?

Switzerland has published the pillar 3a maximums for 2027: CHF 7'373 and CHF 36'864. The 2026 tax return still runs on CHF 7'258. How the years map to the returns.

Updated on 05.10.2026 · 7 min read

The 2026 tax return, the one you'll complete from January 2027, runs on the pillar 3a maximum for 2026: CHF 7'258 if you have a pension fund, and without one 20 % of your earned income up to CHF 36'288. The new amounts the federal government published in early October 2026 are CHF 7'373 and CHF 36'864. They apply to contributions paid from 01.01.2027, which puts them in the 2027 tax return, completed in 2028.

What decides it is the calendar year in which your contribution is paid. When you sit down to do the return doesn't come into it.

Published in October, valid from January

Swiss railway timetables change in mid-December, and the new one is out weeks before. Turn up in November with the new timetable and you're standing on an empty platform. With pillar 3a the gap between publication and validity is a full quarter, so it's easy to carry the wrong number into the spring, when the return is due.

On 02.10.2026 the Federal Council raised AHV and IV pensions from the start of 2027 and adjusted the occupational pension thresholds in the same decision. The Federal Tax Administration published the new maximum deductions on 05.10.2026 under the heading «Höchstabzüge Säule 3a im Steuerjahr 2027». Tax year 2027 is the year the money goes in. You declare it a year later.

Which amount belongs to which return?

Paid inWith a pension fundWithout a pension fundAppears inCompleted in
2025CHF 7'25820 % of earned income, up to CHF 36'2882025 tax return2026
2026CHF 7'25820 % of earned income, up to CHF 36'2882026 tax return2027
2027CHF 7'37320 % of earned income, up to CHF 36'8642027 tax return2028

If you're still working on an extended 2025 return this autumn, you're in the first row. A payment in December 2026 lands in the second. The third row starts with the first transfer in January 2027.

The maximum is per person and per year. Where both spouses work and both pay into a pillar 3a, the ordinance lets each claim the deduction. And the year's amount isn't cut when someone stops working partway through: the full contribution can be paid in that year.

About the amounts: each maximum belongs to the year named, and the federal government resets it periodically. For a later year, the figure published for that year is the one that counts.

Why the payment year decides

Canton Zurich's guide to the 2025 return puts it in one sentence: only the premiums, contributions or deposits actually paid in 2025 may be deducted («nur die tatsächlich im Jahr 2025 bezahlten Prämien/Beiträge oder Einlagen»). The same mechanism runs for 2026 and 2027 with the year swapped. That's why a payment in January 2027 can't be moved back into 2026.

Your 3a provider is the one who documents the year. It records the date each payment is received and issues you a certificate of the contributions made; Canton Zurich asks for that certificate with the tax return. For a transfer in the last days of December, what matters is when the money arrives at the provider. The provider can tell you the last day it still books a payment into the old year.

What CHF 115 more is worth

Mara is employed, has a pension fund and pays in the full amount every year. In December 2026 she transfers CHF 7'258, and that's the figure in her 2026 tax return. In 2027 she may pay in CHF 115 more. At an assumed marginal tax rate of 25 % across federal, cantonal and municipal tax, that extra CHF 115 lowers her 2027 tax by roughly CHF 29. The contribution itself stays her pension capital.

If Mara pays monthly by standing order, the increase comes to just under CHF 10 a month. A standing order left unchanged keeps paying the old amount through 2027.

If she sends CHF 7'373 in December 2026 already, she's above the 2026 amount. The Federal Tax Administration states that the maximum deductions are also the limits for paying in, and that rounding up isn't allowed.

The marginal rate is assumed for illustration. What a deducted franc is worth at your income and in your municipality is the subject of what a tax deduction actually saves.

Without a pension fund, the 20 % comes first

If you don't belong to a pension fund, you can deduct up to 20 % of your earned income, and the franc maximum only bites above that. On earned income of CHF 60'000 that's CHF 12'000, in 2026 and in 2027 alike. The new ceiling changes nothing in that case.

It only takes effect once 20 % of earned income comes to more than the franc amount: from CHF 181'440 in 2026 and from CHF 184'320 in 2027. Which of the two rules is yours depends on whether you belong to a second-pillar pension institution in the year in question.

Where the amount comes from

The tax authorities don't set the maximum themselves. A federal ordinance defines it as a share of the upper threshold of the occupational pension system: 8 % with a pension fund, 40 % without. That threshold is adjusted together with AHV pensions, which usually happens every two years (last in 2025). So the maximum is the same for 2025 and 2026 and rises for 2027.

The ordinance covers the direct taxes of the Confederation, the cantons and the municipalities, so the amount in Aarau is the amount in Zug. Many other deductions follow a rhythm of their own, described in why Swiss deduction limits change.

A buy-in made in 2027

Since 2026, contribution gaps can be paid in later under conditions, and there too the year of payment counts. A buy-in is capped at 8 % of the upper threshold, the same amount as the ordinary contribution with a pension fund. For a buy-in made in 2027 that's CHF 7'373, and the ordinary 2027 contribution has to be paid in full first.

The gap itself is measured against what was allowed in the gap year. With a pension fund, that's CHF 7'258 each for 2025 and 2026. Conditions, the written request and the sequence are in the piece on the pillar 3a buy-in.

What TaxWize does with the year

TaxWize currently prepares the 2025 tax return, for the cantons of Aargau, Zurich, Lucerne, Solothurn, Bern, Zug and Schwyz, at CHF 39 per tax return and tax year. You file it with your canton yourself.

TaxWize reads the 3a contribution from the certificate you upload, and every value the AI reads can be checked and corrected. The calculation for tax year 2025 caps the deduction with a pension fund at CHF 7'258. If TaxWize detects a year on an uploaded document that differs from the tax year of the return, it tells you, and the calculation pauses until you've decided what to do with that document.

How pillar 3a is taxed from the first contribution to the withdrawal is covered in pillar 3a and taxes. What's still open before 31.12.2026 is in what your 2025 tax return says about 2026. The tax comparison tool gives a rough idea of what your income costs in tax in your municipality.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Which pillar 3a maximum applies to the 2026 Swiss tax return?
The 2026 maximum: CHF 7'258 for employed people with a pension fund, and without a pension fund 20 % of earned income up to CHF 36'288. It covers contributions paid during calendar year 2026. The 2026 tax return is completed in 2027, and the new 2027 amounts don't apply to it.
What is the pillar 3a maximum for 2027?
CHF 7'373 for people with a pension fund and up to CHF 36'864 for people without one, who stay limited to 20 % of earned income. The amounts apply from 01.01.2027, so to contributions paid during 2027. They appear in the 2027 tax return, which is completed in 2028.
Can I still pay in for 2026 in January 2027?
No. Only contributions actually paid in the year concerned are deductible, so a payment in January 2027 counts towards tax year 2027. A gap from 2026 can be closed from 2027 as a buy-in, under conditions. One of them is that the ordinary contribution of the buy-in year has been paid in full.
Is the pillar 3a maximum the same in every canton?
Yes. The maximum sits in a federal ordinance and applies to the direct taxes of the Confederation, the cantons and the municipalities. For tax year 2026 it is the same in Aargau, Zurich, Lucerne, Solothurn, Bern, Zug and Schwyz. What differs by canton and municipality is how many francs of tax the deduction ends up being worth.
I have no pension fund. Does anything change for me in 2027?
Often not. Without a pension fund the 20 % of earned income limit applies first, and only above it the franc amount, which rises from CHF 36'288 to CHF 36'864 in 2027. That amount is only reached from earned income of CHF 181'440 in 2026 and CHF 184'320 in 2027. Whether it applies to you depends on your earned income.

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