Note: This language version is an automatically generated translation. The text may therefore contain linguistic and terminological errors.
view in original language (German)X., a partner at a law firm, made a contribution of CHF 500,000 to the 2nd pillar on December 15, 2024. He reaches the standard retirement age of 65 on February 15, 2025, and leaves the firm as an equity partner effective December 31, 2025. He now works at the firm as a senior counsel on a reduced schedule.
On January 3, 2028, he receives a lump-sum payment of CHF 10 million.
He had already withdrawn his Pillar 3a savings on March 15, 2025.
His wife withdrew her retirement savings on January 3, 2025.
X reduces his employment as of February 1, 2025, and transfers his released pension assets to two vested benefits institutions on February 3, 2025. On December 31, 2025, he retires from work and devotes himself to his hobbies from then on. (Sub-scenario: He still occasionally gives a lecture at an ISIS seminar and writes professional publications, earning CHF 10,000 per year).
On January 3, 2028, he withdraws CHF 5 million from the first vested benefits institution and on January 3, 2029, CHF 5 million from the second vested benefits institution.
How are the vested benefits taxed?
X. got divorced in 2015 and had to pay his ex-wife a pension split of CHF 2 million. In December of each year from 2022 to 2025, he makes contributions to the 2nd pillar in the amount of CHF 500,000. (Sub-scenario: To ensure sufficient liquidity for the contributions, X increases his mortgage by CHF 1 million in 2023.)
X. retires as of June 30, 2026.
On July 3, 2026, he makes a lump-sum withdrawal of CHF 10 million.
How is the lump-sum payment of CHF 10 million taxed?
Helgo Schmidt is employed full-time by C-Consulting AG. At age 62, he reduces his working hours at C-Consulting AG by 50%, but leaves his retirement savings in the company’s pension fund. The pension fund regulations provide for this option.
One year later, he leaves C-Consulting AG and retires. He transfers his retirement savings from the company’s pension fund to two vested benefits institutions.
Helgo Schmidt remains employed at C-Consulting AG beyond the reference age and continues to be insured in its pension fund. At age 68, he completely retires from gainful employment and transfers his retirement savings to two vested benefits institutions. He wishes to receive the benefits in staggered payments over the following two years.
Sandra Weber is self-employed and voluntarily enrolled in an occupational pension plan (2nd pillar). At age 62, she takes an early withdrawal under the WEF to finance the installation of a new kitchen.
At age 63, she scales back her work slightly and reduces her insured income from an average of CHF 200,000 to CHF 180,000, without drawing any benefits.
A year later, at age 64, she takes another step toward partial retirement. From then on, she insures an income of CHF 150,000. In the same year, she plans to make a gift to her daughter for the purchase of a property and inquires whether she can withdraw a quarter of her retirement savings in lump-sum form for this purpose.
At age 65, she takes another step toward partial retirement: she withdraws half of her retirement savings, totaling CHF 1,000,000, in a lump sum. At the same time, she reduces her insured income to CHF 75,000, as she continues to work on a reduced basis.
At age 66, Sandra Weber retires permanently and has the remaining retirement savings paid out in full as a lump sum.
Sandra Weber is both the owner and an employee of her own corporation. One year before reaching the reference age, she reduces her salary from CHF 150,000 to CHF 120,000. Upon reaching the reference age, she further reduces her income to CHF 9,000. In both cases, she defers the withdrawal of her retirement savings. Her total pension savings amount to CHF 1,000,000.
Between the ages of 66 and 68, she plans to reduce her salary by CHF 3,000 annually and, at the same time, withdraw one-third of her retirement savings in lump-sum form each year.
Max Minder is employed full-time by the Canton of Bern. 1.5 years before his retirement, he discovers an attractive motorhome with which he plans to travel through Europe after retiring. Since he currently has no liquid funds available, he decides to reduce his employment level to 60% for one month in order to receive a corresponding lump-sum payment from his pension fund as part of this partial retirement step. He then increases his employment level back to 100%.
What are the pension and tax law implications of this temporary partial retirement?
Guy Leroy, a French citizen with a C permit, lived and worked in the canton of Neuchâtel from 2014 to 2016 and again from 2018 to 2023. Starting in 2016, he lived in Switzerland with his partner and their child. From that point on, he made annual contributions to his occupational pension plan ranging from CHF 20,000 to CHF 60,000.
In the year he moved away (2023), Guy Leroy made two additional contributions to the pension fund—totaling CHF 240,000. He made the final contribution four weeks before returning to France.
After his departure, he transferred his entire vested benefits to two vested benefits institutions in the canton of Schwyz.
In 2025, Guy Leroy—who has since returned to the canton of Neuchâtel with his family and purchased a property—withdraws funds from one of the two vested benefits accounts as part of an early withdrawal under the WEF.
What are the pension and tax law consequences of this situation?
Sabine Lohr is a member of the executive board of M AG. Due to an internal restructuring, her employment is terminated at the end of February at the age of 58. In the previous year, she earned a gross annual salary of CHF 200,000.
Initially, Sabine Lohr objects to the termination but accepts it following negotiations with her employer. The agreement is set forth in a written settlement. This provides, on the one hand, for an immediate transfer to another group company, T AG. Second, she is awarded a one-time payment of CHF 200,000 gross, which both parties refer to as a “severance payment due to termination”—without further clarification. The payment is made at the end of February, on the last day of her employment with M AG.
Also on her last day of work, her previous pension fund confirms that Sabine Lohr has a significant pension gap (employer and employee contributions, including interest) amounting to CHF 245,000 for the period between the ages of 58 and 65.
Sabine Lohr starts her new position at T AG on March 1. There, she earns a gross annual salary of CHF 100,000, which is half of her previous salary.
How should the “severance pay due to dismissal” of CHF 200,000 gross received by Sabine Lohr be taxed?
Due to her dismissal at the end of February, Sabine Lohr is permanently leaving the workforce and taking early retirement. Following negotiations regarding the termination of the employment relationship and to close the pension gap between the age of 58 and the statutory reference age of 65, the employer agrees to pay a severance payment of CHF 245,000.
This severance pay will be transferred directly to Sabine Lohr’s pension fund in January 2025.
As part of the restructuring of P1 AG, which constitutes a mass layoff under Art. 335d of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO), a social plan with compensation provisions for all laid-off employees is adopted.
What are the tax consequences?
A., a resident of Bassersdorf (ZH), made an early withdrawal from his occupational pension plan (WEF early withdrawal) of CHF 950,000 on October 24, 2017, to purchase residential property, on which a special tax of CHF 93,755 was levied pursuant to § 37 StG ZH.
On December 24, 2020, A. repays the full WEF early withdrawal of CHF 950,000 to the pension fund (alternative: A. makes a partial repayment of CHF 250,000).
