# Pillar 3a Retrospective Payments from 2026 — Conditions, Amounts & Tips — innoVorsorge AG

> Since 2026, contribution gaps in pillar 3a can be closed retroactively for the first time — up to 10 years back. We explain the requirements, show who benefits most and how to use catch-up payments strategically for maximum tax savings.

Adresse: https://www.innovorsorge.ch/en/blog/pillar-3a-retrospective-payments-2026

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24 Mar Written by Lukas Bachmann

# Pillar 3a Catch-Up Payments: How to Fill Gaps from Past Years

Have you not paid the full amount into your pillar 3a in recent years? Perhaps due to a job change, further education, part-time work or simply because other things were a priority. Until now, the money was irrevocably lost — pillar 3a did not allow "catching up." That has changed.

Since 1 January 2026, the federal government has for the first time allowed contribution gaps in pillar 3a to be closed retroactively. This is the biggest innovation in private provision in years — and potentially affects hundreds of thousands of employed people in Switzerland.

The 10-year lookback at a glance

## What Exactly Is New?

If you paid in less than the maximum amount to pillar 3a in a given year, you can now close this gap retroactively. The key points:

- **Retroactively up to 10 years** — but only for gaps from the 2025 contribution year onwards. Older gaps remain unfortunately lost.

- **Maximum amount 2025/2026:** CHF 7,258 (employees with pension fund) or CHF 36,288 (self-employed without pension fund).

- **Catch-up payments are tax-deductible** — just like regular 3a contributions.

**Concrete example:** In 2025 you only paid CHF 5,000 instead of the maximum CHF 7,258. From 2026, you can make an additional catch-up payment of the difference of CHF 2,258 — and deduct it from your taxable income. Depending on your canton and income, this saves you several hundred francs in taxes.

Example: Catch-up payment in 2026

## What Conditions Apply?

The catch-up payment is subject to clear conditions. All must be met simultaneously:

- **Earned income in the gap year:** You must have had AHV-liable income in the gap year. Years with no gainful employment at all cannot be caught up.

- **Earned income in the catch-up year:** You must also be employed in the year you make the catch-up payment.

- **Current year first:** The maximum amount for the current year must be paid in full before catch-up payments are possible.

- **No age-related capital withdrawal:** Anyone who has already withdrawn capital from a 3a account from age 59 (women) or 60 (men) loses the right to catch-up payments.

- **One gap = one payment:** Each gap must be closed with a single payment — splitting over multiple years is not possible.

## How Much Can I Catch Up?

An important restriction applies here: the catch-up payment is limited to the **small maximum amount** — i.e. CHF 7,258 per year (as of 2026). This also applies to the self-employed; the large maximum amount does not apply here.

| Payment | Amount (CHF) |
| --- | --- |

| Regular maximum amount | 7,258 |

| + Catch-up payment (max.) | 7,258 |

| **Total maximum per year** | **14,516** |

Important

In a single year, you can close gaps from multiple previous years, but the sum of all catch-up payments is capped at CHF 7,258.

## How Does the Catch-Up Payment Affect Taxes?

The tax deduction applies **in the year of payment** — not retroactively for the gap year. So if you close a gap from 2025 in 2026, the catch-up payment reduces your taxable income in the 2026 tax return. Not that of 2025.

This is not a disadvantage — on the contrary: you can deliberately control which year you make the catch-up payment. Have a particularly high income? Then the catch-up payment is most worthwhile in exactly that year, because you can "save yourself down" into a lower tax bracket.

## Who Benefits Most?

#### Part-time workers

Unable to pay the full amount in some years

#### Parents after baby break

Gaps from years with reduced employment

#### Career changers

Transition phases with lower income

#### Young professionals

Provision not prioritised early on

## How to Proceed Concretely

1

Check your 3a account statements from 2025 onwards. In which years did you pay in less than the maximum amount?

2

First pay the full amount for the current year (2026: CHF 7,258).

3

Transfer the catch-up payment(s) for the gap years — as separate payment(s) to your 3a provider.

4

Claim the total amount in your tax return — the deduction applies in the year of payment.

## What Else You Should Know

The 10-year rule builds up over time. Since only gaps from 2025 count, you can catch up a maximum of one year in 2026. In 2027, then two years, and so on. The full effect unfolds only from 2035.

**Tax tip:** Use this option strategically. In years with particularly high income, the additional catch-up payment brings the greatest tax savings — because you can "save yourself down" into a lower tax bracket.

## Conclusion

The new catch-up option makes pillar 3a significantly more flexible. Those who have not maximised their contributions in recent years get a second chance. But: the rules are precise, and depending on your situation, an individual calculation is worthwhile.

How much tax can you save through targeted catch-up payments?

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### Sources

- [Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV) — The third pillar](https://www.bsv.admin.ch/de/die-dritte-saeule)

- [Zurich — Retrospective payments pillar 3a from 2026](https://www.zurich.ch/de/services/wissen/vorsorge-und-anlage/nachtraegliche-einkaeufe-saeule-3a)

- [BLKB — Catch-up payments into pillar 3a: What changes from 2026?](https://www.blkb.ch/blog-article/Vorsorgen/Nachzahlungen-in-die-S-ule-3a--Was--ndert-sich-ab-2026-)

- [Raiffeisen — Catch-up payment into pillar 3a](https://www.raiffeisen.ch/rch/de/wissen/vorsorgen/nachzahlung-saeule-3a.html)

- [finpension — Pillar 3a catch-up: Limited possibility from 2026](https://finpension.ch/en/knowledge/pillar-3a-back-payment/)

- [AXA — Buy-in into pillar 3a](https://www.axa.ch/de/privatkunden/blog/vorsorge/einkauf-3a.html)

- [VZ Wealth Center — Pillar 3a maximum amount 2026](https://www.vermoegenszentrum.ch/wissen/saeule-3a-maximalbetrag)

- [ZKB — Closing contribution gaps in pillar 3a](https://www.zkb.ch/de/blog/meine-vorsorge/beitragsluecken-schliessen-in-der-saeule-3a.html)

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