Your tax savings calculator for the pillar 3a
So that you can individually calculate how high your tax savings will be with a contribution to the pillar 3a.
with a contribution of CHF 7'258 in Aarau (AG)
How your tax savings are distributed
- FederalCHF 455
- Canton & MunicipalityCHF 1'380
Savings depending on contribution
From 0 to the limit of CHF 7'258. Hover over the curve for individual values.
How it is calculated
Estimated taxable income without 3a: Canton CHF 83'425, Federal CHF 85'425.
- Tariffs and tax rates 2026 of the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) for all cantons and municipalities. Federal tax follows the FTA 2026 tariff including parental tariff with a CHF 263 deduction per child.
- Dual tariffs and cantonal splitting, the family quotient of Vaud, the tax reduction of 12% in Geneva, and the discount for married couples in Valais are taken into account.
- Valais: Municipalities have their own indexations. The calculator uniformly assumes 173%; the result is an approximation.
- AHV/IV/EO (5.3%), ALV (1.1%), and with pension fund half of the BVG retirement credits are deducted from gross salary. Then 2026 cantonal and federal deductions: professional expenses flat rate, insurance premiums (CHF 4'560 per adult), child, married couple, and second earner deductions. Assumptions: 40 years old, school-age children. Same calculation as in the Light version.
- Not included: wealth tax, personal and head taxes, subsequent purchases for 3a gaps from 2025 onwards.
- Upon withdrawal in old age, the 3a balance is taxed separately at a reduced rate. The savings today are therefore partially a tax deferral.
Checked against the official FTA tax calculator (Zurich, accurate to the franc). Estimate without guarantee, no tax advice.
Data status: FTA tax data 2026 and direct federal tax tariff 2026 (Form. 58c). 3a limits 2026: CHF 7'258 with, CHF 36'288 without pension fund.
Info about the calculator and other tax-saving topics
Scope of the calculator
The tax savings mentioned above refer to the amount by which your tax bill is reduced when you make the corresponding contribution into pillar 3a and all other factors remain the same. The calculator only shows the deduction for income tax. In addition, there are two further advantages that it does not quantify: you pay no wealth tax on your 3a balance, and the interest and dividends it generates are not subject to income tax.
And upon withdrawal? Then a one-off tax becomes due, separate from your other income and at a reduced rate. It is significantly below what you saved over the years. How exactly this works, we explain to you here.
As always with tax topics: the result is a guideline value. What counts in the end is your tax assessment.
How we calculate
We calculate your taxes twice, once with your 3a contribution and once without. The difference is your savings. This also correctly takes progression into account if the contribution brings you into a lower tax bracket.
You enter your gross annual salary. From this, we deduct the usual contributions and flat rates: AHV, IV and EO, unemployment insurance, your contributions to the pension fund, professional expenses and the insurance deduction. What remains is your taxable income. Your other deductions, for example for real estate, debt interest or purchases into the pension fund, are not taken into account.
Why is there no universally valid number?
The exact same contribution brings two people completely different savings. This is because your marginal tax rate depends on five things:
Income level: The higher your income, the higher the rate on its top portion. Someone earning 150'000 francs saves significantly more per contributed franc than someone earning 60'000.
Canton of residence: Every canton has its own tax scale and its own tax multiplier. The difference between the cheapest and most expensive canton is larger than most people suspect.
Municipality: Even within the same canton, tax multipliers vary widely.
Marital status: Married couples and registered partnerships are assessed jointly and taxed under a dedicated tax scale. For the same income, this results in a different marginal tax rate than for single individuals.
Denomination: If you belong to a national church, church tax is added. With the pillar 3a deduction, this works the opposite of what you might think: because your overall tax burden is higher, you save more per contributed franc than a non-religious person.
Calculation examples, always with the deduction of the maximum amount
Depending on place of residence
Aarau, married, 3 children, Reformed, 140k income: Tax savings: 1’426 francs
Basel Stadt, married, 3 children, Reformed, 140k income: Tax savings: 1’925 francs
Depending on marital status
Zurich, single (sole earner), no children, no church tax, 280k income: Tax savings: 2’838 francs
Zurich, married (sole earner), no children, no church tax, 280k income: Tax savings: 2’511 francs
An average number would therefore be incorrect for almost everyone. Instead of giving you one, we built the calculator. It calculates based on your canton, your municipality, and your personal situation.
Marginal tax rate
Switzerland taxes progressively: the more you earn, the higher the tax rate on the top portion of your income. The marginal tax rate is the tax burden on the last franc earned.
For pillar 3a, this is the crucial number. Your deduction reduces your taxable income from the top down, right where taxes are highest. What matters is therefore not how much tax you pay on average, but what applies to that top franc. Your average tax rate is usually significantly lower.
An example: if you contribute 7’000 francs and save 1'400 francs in taxes, your marginal tax rate is around 20 percent. Put another way: every franc contributed reduces your tax bill by 20 Rappen.
How the tax savings in pillar 3a work
You enter your annual contributions into pillar 3a in your tax return under «Deductions». This reduces your taxable income and saves you taxes. The amount of your tax savings depends on your marginal tax rate. The higher your income, the higher your marginal tax rate and your tax savings. If you earn little or work only a low workload, you save only a little tax (and upon withdrawal, just like everyone else, you have to pay capital withdrawal tax, which is based on the total 3a assets, not your individual remaining income situation). In addition, Pillar 3a is locked until your retirement, usually a very long time. It is therefore worth checking whether an investment in free assets might be a better fit for you.
Two examples, one with a high income and the other with an average one.
Herisau, single, no children, Catholic, 60k income: Tax savings: 1’548 francs
Herisau, single, no children, Catholic, 120k income: Tax savings: 2’090 francs
Where exactly in the tax return you can make the deduction and how this section is named varies by canton and also depends on the software used for the e-tax return. You will often find it under «Contributions to bound pension provision (Pillar 3a)», «Pillar 3a contributions» (Canton AG), or «Contributions to recognized forms of bound pension provision (3rd Pillar a)» (Canton ZH). When in doubt, the instructions for the tax return will help you out. You can find them online on the website of your residence canton's tax office (search term: tax return Canton XY guide PDF). To claim the deduction, you will receive a Pillar 3a tax certificate from us at the beginning of the following year, which you enclose with or upload to your tax return. We send it to you directly in the findependent app.
Additional tax savings effect of pillar 3a
What is often forgotten: the money in your Pillar 3a is exempt from wealth tax and income tax: earnings such as interest and dividends are tax-free. So you don't have to declare your Pillar 3a in your tax return, neither as wealth nor as income. You only need to upload the tax certificate and make the corresponding deduction to benefit from the tax savings effect.
Taxation upon payout
Deductibility during the savings phase also means that your pillar 3a assets will be taxed upon payout. Be it for the purchase of owner-occupied residential property or upon retirement. However, not as ordinary income, but separately and at a reduced rate.
You pay tax on the entire payout amount, not only on the cumulative contributions, but also on the capital gains achieved (in free assets, these are known to be tax-free for private individuals). Bottom line, you still remain clearly in the green, because you deducted at your marginal tax rate, which has a significantly stronger effect.
Important: the tax burden increases with the payout amount. Anyone who withdraws all their pension assets in a single year pays proportionally more than someone who staggers it over several years. That is precisely why it is worth managing several 3a portfolios right from the start and withdrawing them in stages later on.
Note
The figures and information shown are values that we have compiled to the best of our knowledge. They do not constitute tax advice or tax information, and no legal claims can be derived from them.
