Guide
Buying back pillar 3a gaps
Until gaps from 2024, a year without a 3a was lost. From 2026 the FSIO allows a retroactive buy-back. It is narrow, conditional, and capped at the small contribution. It is not a way to catch up a whole career.
What the FSIO states
First buy-back: the 2026 tax year, for a 2025 gap. The window is at most ten years back, but only for years from 1 January 2025. The amount is up to the small contribution for 2026, 7'258 CHF (article 7 OPP 3). You pay the ordinary maximum for the current year first, then the gap, in one payment.
You must have had the right to contribute in the gap year — earned income subject to OASI in Switzerland — and still meet that condition in the buy-back year. A self-employed person on the large contribution does not catch up a forgotten large contribution. The buy-back stays pegged to the small one.
The published method targets buy-backs from 2026. From 1 January 2027 the Federal Council sets 7,373 francs with a 2nd pillar and 36,864 francs at most without one. The 20% rate is unchanged. Press release of 2 October 2026: https://www.admin.ch/fr/newnsb/BqB41FVYi5FB. The wider frame is the Swiss third pillar.
Questions
Your questions, answered
The questions people ask before they request a comparison.
Can a forgotten 2023 pillar 3a be bought back?+−
No. Only gaps from 2025 are buyable. Earlier years stay lost. The first possible buy-back is the 2026 tax year, for 2025.
Is the buy-back added to the year’s payment?+−
In 2026, yes, up to the small contribution (7'258 CHF), and only if the ordinary maximum for the buy-back year is already paid. From 1 January 2027 the Federal Council sets 7,373 francs with a 2nd pillar and 36,864 francs at most without one. The 20% rate is unchanged. Press release of 2 October 2026: https://www.admin.ch/fr/newnsb/BqB41FVYi5FB.
Official sources
Official sources
- FSIO — The third pillar (article 7 OPP 3) — Small and large contributions. Pillar 3a buy-backs concern gaps from 2025. The first buy-back is possible in 2026.
- FSIO — Amounts valid on 1 January 2026 — OASI pensions, BVG thresholds and 2026 pillar 3a ceilings. Last editorial check: 6 octobre 2026.
- Federal Council — pillar 3a deduction from 1 January 2027 — Press release of 2 October 2026: 7,373 francs with a 2nd pillar, 36,864 francs at most without one. The 20% rate is unchanged.
- FSIO — Your third-pillar contribution — Maximum with a 2nd pillar, or 20% of income inside the limit without one. The credit counts on 31 December for the tax year.
- FTA — Circular 18a (taxation of pillar 3a) — Tax on capital at withdrawal, staggering, transfer to the 2nd pillar.
- FTA — Pillar 3b life policies that can be surrendered — Flexible provision is not one single tax story. A policy follows the contract and the canton.
- FSIO — OPP 3 change (beneficiaries) — The FSIO announced a wider choice of pillar 3a beneficiaries from 1 June 2027. The applicable detail is on that page, not in a ceiling figure.
- OASI/disability information centre — Pensions, the 13th old-age pension, reference age and the transitional generation.
Editorial review on 6 octobre 2026. Pillar 3a ceilings cited for 2026, from the FSIO table. From 1 January 2027 the Federal Council sets 7,373 francs with a 2nd pillar and 36,864 francs at most without one. The 20% rate is unchanged. Press release of 2 October 2026: https://www.admin.ch/fr/newnsb/BqB41FVYi5FB. Cantonal pillar 3b amounts can change from one tax notice to the next. This is not personal advice.