- Your 3a can be withdrawn in full when you leave Switzerland for good, on request.
- Your pension fund: everything outside the EU and EFTA; in the EU, the mandatory part stays blocked if you are insured there.
- The tax on withdrawal depends on the foundation's canton, not on your new country.
Your 3a: withdrawable in full, anywhere
Leaving Switzerland for good lets you withdraw all your 3a, whatever your destination: you request it yourself, account by account. You need the departure certificate from your municipality, then a request to each foundation. The payment is taxed at source in Switzerland, at a reduced rate.
Nothing forces you to withdraw everything on the day you leave. But you can no longer pay in: a 3a requires AHV-liable income in Switzerland.
Your pension fund: the destination decides
Outside the EU and EFTA, you can withdraw all your pension fund money. In the EU or EFTA, the mandatory part stays in Switzerland if you are insured in your new country. The free movement agreement protects the minimum pension of people who keep contributing in Europe. The extra-mandatory part is paid out to you.
| What you can withdraw when you leave | To the EU or EFTA, insured there | Anywhere else |
|---|---|---|
| Pillar 3a | Everything | Everything |
| Pension fund, extra-mandatory part | Everything | Everything |
| Pension fund, mandatory part | Blocked until 5 years before the reference age | Everything |
If you settle in the EU without being compulsorily insured there (if you do not work there, for example), you can also request the mandatory part, with a certificate from that country's social insurance.
How much will stay blocked? The answer is on your pension certificate, on the line for the BVG retirement assets. The higher your salary, the bigger the extra-mandatory part, and the more you get back. The blocked part waits in a vested benefits account: choose one that lets you invest it, as it often has 20 years ahead of it.
Tax on withdrawal: the foundation's canton counts
A withdrawal paid to someone living abroad is taxed at source in Switzerland, at a reduced rate that depends on the canton where the foundation has its seat. Your new country does not change that rate. Rates vary widely from one canton to another: moving your vested benefits to a foundation based in a low-rate canton, before the withdrawal, is legal and can cut the bill significantly.
If your new country has a double taxation agreement with Switzerland, the Swiss tax can often be refunded. You apply within 3 years, with a certificate from your new country's tax authority: you are then taxed there, under its rules. Without an agreement, the Swiss tax is final.
Your AHV stays yours
Your AHV contribution years remain yours: the pension will be paid to you abroad, at retirement age. You have nothing to request when you leave. A refund of contributions is generally only possible for nationals of countries with no social security agreement with Switzerland.
Before you leave, ask your compensation office for a free extract of your AHV account: you will see whether any years are missing, and an error is easier to correct from Switzerland.
The trap of recent buy-ins
A pension fund buy-in less than 3 years old cannot come out as a lump sum, even when you leave: otherwise, the tax office can claw back the deduction. If you are likely to leave within 3 years, a buy-in is rarely a good idea. The mechanism is explained in the pension fund buy-in.
What Switzerland still taxes after you leave
From the day you leave, Switzerland no longer taxes your income or wealth, except property in Switzerland and the withholding tax on your Swiss dividends. Tax for the year you leave is calculated pro rata, up to your departure date. The 35% withholding tax can only be partly recovered, depending on your new country's tax agreement.
In the right order
- 6 months before: get your pension certificates and your AHV extract, find the mandatory part, check that no buy-in is less than 3 years old.
- Before you leave: choose your vested benefits foundation (canton, invested or not).
- When you leave: deregister with your municipality, get the certificate, give your banks your new address.
- After you leave: request the 3a and pension fund withdrawals, then the refund of the tax at source if an agreement allows it.
Going further
Withdraw over several years. Tax at source on capital rises with the amount paid out in the same year. Several 3a accounts and two vested benefits accounts, withdrawn in different years, cost less tax than one large withdrawal.
Do not let anything get lost. Keep your certificates and an up-to-date contact address with each foundation. Forgotten assets can be found, but years later and with paperwork: the Central Office for Pension Fund Assets helps you search.
Leaving Europe? Voluntary AHV insurance lets you, under conditions, keep contributing from abroad, to avoid missing years and a reduced pension.
Lump sum or pension?If you keep your pension fund money in Switzerland, compare both options with your figures.
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Frequently asked questions
Is my 3a paid out automatically when I leave?
No. You send a request to each 3a foundation, with the departure certificate from your municipality. You can also leave your 3a in Switzerland and withdraw it later, but you can no longer pay in without AHV-liable income in Switzerland.
I am moving to work in France: can I withdraw all my pension fund?
No. If you are compulsorily insured in an EU or EFTA country, the mandatory part stays in Switzerland, in a vested benefits account, until 5 years before the reference age. The extra-mandatory part can be paid out to you.
And if I do not work in the EU country I move to?
If you are not compulsorily insured there for old age, disability and death, you can request all of your pension fund money. The foundation will ask for a certificate from that country's social insurance.
How do I know my mandatory part?
On your pension certificate, on the line for the BVG retirement assets (in French, « avoir de vieillesse LPP »). The rest of your total assets is the extra-mandatory part.
Can I get my AHV contributions back?
Generally only if you are a national of a country with no social security agreement with Switzerland. Otherwise, your contribution years remain yours and give you the right to an AHV pension paid abroad.
Can I keep my Swiss bank account?
In principle, yes. But some banks close or restrict accounts for clients living in certain countries. Give your bank your new address: it will report it to the tax authority of your new country if that country takes part in the automatic exchange of information.
Sources: BVV 3 / OPP 3 art. 3 (3a withdrawal on leaving Switzerland for good) ; FZG / LFLP art. 5, 16 and 25f (cash payment, free movement agreement with the EU and EFTA) ; BVG / LPP art. 79b para. 3 (buy-ins and the 3-year period) ; DBG / LIFD art. 95 and 96, StHG / LHID art. 35 (taxation at source of capital benefits paid abroad) ; Central Compensation Office, refund of AHV contributions ; FTA, withholding tax ; OECD, automatic exchange of information.