What is the capital withdrawal tax?
The capital payment tax must be paid when the capital saved for retirement pension is paid out from the second Pillar (pension fund) and third pillar.
Therefore the 3rd pillar withdrawal tax is the same as the withdrawal tax for pension funds, when you withdraw a lump-sum amount.
Like income tax and wealth tax, the tax is levied at the Federal, cantonal and municipal levels. The church also receives its share.
Large differences in tax rate and progression
The tax rate varies greatly from place of residence to place of residence. In Schaffhausen, for example, you pay CHF 31’400 for CHF 500’000. In Zurich it is almost twice as much: CHF 56’300.
The municipalities also charge a withdrawal fee. However, the differences at the commune level are usually much lower than in the cantons.
There are great inequalities in the form of tax progression. In Bern, you pay almost ten times more in taxes for CHF 500’000 than for CHF 100’000!
Therefore, in order to analyse the total tax burden, the absolute amount as well as the progression increase must be included.
A list of capital payment taxes in the various cantons can be found here.
| Commune | CHF 25’000 | CHF 100’000 | CHF 250’000 | CHF 500’000 |
| Aarau (AG) | 1’633 | 4’965 | 17’945 | 41’293 |
| Appenzell (AI) | 1’308 | 3’623 | 12’382 | 27’332 |
| Herisau (AR) | 3’739 | 7’875 | 22’282 | 49’565 |
| Bern (BE) | 1’800 | 4’782 | 16’791 | 42’486 |
| Liestal (BL) | 1’739 | 3’875 | 12’282 | 33’732 |
| Basel (BS) | 1’839 | 5’325 | 20’782 | 47’382 |
| Fribourg (FR) | 2’087 | 5’660 | 23’282 | 57’122 |
| Genève (GE) | 1’503 | 4’682 | 16’849 | 39’453 |
| Glarus (GL) | 2’449 | 5’295 | 15’832 | 34’232 |
| Chur (GR) | 1’969 | 4’335 | 13’432 | 47’809 |
| Delémont (JU) | 2’701 | 6’252 | 21’731 | 48’518 |
| Luzern (LU) | 2’049 | 5’409 | 18’425 | 41’700 |
| Neuchâtel (NE) | 2’464 | 6’064 | 20’470 | 43’695 |
| Stans (NW) | 2’133 | 5’668 | 18’085 | 38’737 |
| Sarnen (OW) | 2’649 | 5’694 | 16’830 | 36’228 |
| St. Gallen (SG) | 2’938 | 6’273 | 18’277 | 39’122 |
| Schaffhausen (SH) | 1’248 | 3’933 | 14’427 | 31’422 |
| Solothurn (SO) | 1’833 | 5’111 | 17’883 | 38’982 |
| Schwyz (SZ) | 756 | 2’772 | 16’623 | 49’219 |
| Frauenfeld (TG) | 3’245 | 6’887 | 19’812 | 42’192 |
| Bellinzona (TI) | 2’039 | 4’475 | 13’782 | 37’288 |
| Altdorf (UR) | 1’941 | 4’280 | 13’295 | 29’157 |
| Lausanne (VD) | 2’786 | 7’473 | 26’827 | 63’490 |
| Sion (VS) | 2’189 | 4’775 | 15’944 | 46’291 |
| Zug (ZG) | 954 | 3’517 | 12’914 | 30’874 |
| Zürich (ZH) | 2’279 | 4’955 | 17’260 | 56’338 |
Tax progression – second and third pillar added together
Like income tax, capital withdrawal tax is also subject to progression in many cantons. subject to progression in many cantons. All payments from the 2nd pillar and pillar 3a are cumulative.
For a withdrawal of CHF 250’000, the tax in Zurich is CHF 15’262.- For a withdrawal of twice that amount, CHF 2’830.- would have would have to be paid.
Spouses or persons in a registered partnership are also entitled to payments in the same year. partnership are also entitled to payments in the same year.
Optimise capital withdrawal tax
The capital payment tax is calculated separately from income.
It therefore does not matter whether you have a high or low taxable income in the reference year.
Like income tax, pension tax is subject to progression. progression. Thus, for example, the tax on an amount of CHF 500’000.- is more than twice as high as for an amount of CHF 250’000.
In the vast majority of cantons, the payments from the pension fund are added to the payments from pillar 3a in order to determine the degree of progression.
Therefore, two options for optimisation are recommended:
- Graduation (gradually withdraw capital)
- Move residence
In Zurich, if you have a capital of CHF 500’000, you save over CHF 20’000 in taxes due to the gradual withdrawal.
You should also never withdraw the capital from the pension fund in the same year as the capital from the 3rd pillar, since, as mentioned above, the amounts are added together and higher taxation results.
You can postpone the withdrawal of capital from your vested benefits account for up to you can defer the withdrawal of the capital on your vested benefits account for up to five years.
It is only worthwhile to change your place of residence if a large amount of money is at play, since its is more complex to move.
Change of residence – move to another canton or commune
If you are considering a move before retirement, you should plan carefully in advance to benefit from lower taxes in the new location.
In addition, it is important to consider the centre of life not only because of the capital payment tax.
If one moves, withdraws the capital and then moves back again, one often has to deal with the tax office.
Planning – the earlier, the better
In order to optimise the taxes incurred when paying out the early planning is recommended in order to optimise the taxes due when paying out the pension capital.
Ideally, you should concentrate on the “how” at least 10 to 15 years before you retirement, because some things can no longer be optimised shortly before retirement.
We support you in planning so that as much of your money as possible stays with you, instead of having to hand it over to the state.