I am sure that the tax officer requested asked to withdraw X CHF (~1000 CHF) whikle my wife was unemployed. May it was due another reason like the waiting a month or 2 to receive the unemployment benefits, but I do not remember that she has to wait.
For their exact reasoning, the cantons that do it in practice today, could probably explain it best:
âJe nach kantonaler Steuerbehörde wird eine Staffelung als Steuerumgehung taxiert. Ihre Steuerbehörde kann Ihnen fĂŒr mehr Information am besten weiterhelfen.â
SĂ€ule 3a gestaffelt beziehen: Wie sparen Sie Steuern? - Pax
âWie viele 3a-Konten man eröffnen kann, ist gesetzlich nicht limitiert. Erst im Rahmen des Bezugs limitieren die SteuerĂ€mter je nach Kanton die Anzahl Konten, womit der gestaffelte Bezug EinschrĂ€nkungen in Form einer Zusammenrechnung einzelner BezĂŒge unterliegen kann.â
Mini-Artikel-Serie: SĂ€ule 3a - Wie viele Konten darf man haben? - PensExpert
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Change in future ?
" Le conseiller national PLR Andri Silberschmidt demande dĂ©sormais une simplification. Ă lâavenir, il ne devrait plus ĂȘtre nĂ©cessaire de rĂ©partir les fonds de prĂ©voyance sur diffĂ©rents comptes pour pouvoir les percevoir de maniĂšre Ă©chelonnĂ©e. Au lieu de cela, il veut aussi permettre le retrait partiel dâun compte. Câest ce que prĂ©voit sa motion, dont le Conseil fĂ©dĂ©ral a recommandĂ© lâadoption mercredi, ce qui est plutĂŽt rare."
https://www.parlament.ch/de/ratsbetrieb/suche-curia-vista/geschaeft?AffairId=20243067
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Excited to see who is against that and why.
âNo we want to keep an idiotic system that causes lots of unnecessary costs because weâve always done it this way since our forefathers founded this country in 1291â or some such usual nonsense.
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Hey, it works for the EigenmietwertâŠ
The Eigenmietwert counterbalances the deductability of mortgage interests and value maintenance, itâs not as clear cut as allowing partial withdrawals on 3a.
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⊠philosophically yes, although interest deductibility is a pleasant gift to the banking industry as it encourages people to take on more debt than otherwise, pay more interest, and pay the debt off more slowly, or not at all.
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I think CH doesnât want to encourage people to buy houses and thatâs why this Deemed rental income rule exists to discourage people.
In the end with strong tenant laws and good quality housing , owning a house is not really necessary in Switzerland.
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There are more disuasive topics than the deemed rental income to block the purchase of real estate:
- scarcity of real estate in certain areas
- constantly rising property prices
- limited use of the 2nd pillar
- 20% equity + notary fees (I understand that some canton have not)
- the median salary in Switzerland is around CHF 6â800/month in 2023
- a couple earning two median salaries (CHF 163â200/year) with savings of CHF 100â000 can afford a property of CHF 500â000. Not impossible, but hard to find in most Swiss regions (source UBS https://www.ubs.com/ch/en/private/mortgages/purchase-price-calculator.htmlcaculator)
- Difficulties to buy a real estate as a single person with a median salary and without external assistance (i.e. gift from family/parents)
- Average age of 1st purchase (source https://www.swisslife.com/fr/home/blog/europeens-revent-de-devenir-proprietaires.html)
But itâs another debate, letâs get back to the 3rd pillar 
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The proposal was adopted by the national council a few days ago, letâs see what the council of states will decide (probably this winter). It seems that opening more than one 3a account solely for tax purposes wonât be necessary in the future.
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Thanks for sharing
Thatâs it, you can (almost) forget the idea of opening multiple 3a accounts. Parliament has adopted the idea that, in the future, partial withdrawal from a 3a account should be possible : 24.3067 | Teilbezug von Vorsorgegeldern ermöglichen | Amtliches Bulletin | Das Schweizer Parlament. Object is now transferred to the Federal council.
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Nevertheless it can make sense to split it up between different foundations to reduce the (very small) counterparty risk.
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Absolutely ! Although opening 2 or 3 accounts seem enough to mitigate this type of risk. Thereâs no need anymore to have exactly 5 accounts.
When i moved to Switzerland i opened a 3rd pillar with Cler and paid in 5 years, then opened a second account and paid in 5 years, then opened a third and paid in etc
i regret that and am in process of fixing it.
I have opened 5 pillar 3 accounts with finpension (where i also have my freizugigkeitskonto)
- will transfer my 3 cler accounts to equivalent 3 finpension ones
- Future 3rd pillar contributions will be to 4th account (even years) and 5th account (odd years)
I should have set up 5 accounts from the start and alternated contributions to build ip 5 pretty even buckets whereas my first 3rd pillar bucket will now be much more $$$ than the last one due to more years of growth. Makes it less easy to spread evenly the payouts upon retirement
Also took the opportuity to make the contributions more heavy into stocks to drive more growth va cler but thatâs another discussion
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My advice to friends in my friend circle: Open a new one every year. After five years you have five. Then, once a year, change the standing order to the 3a account with the lowest balance.
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How about when married: should each have 5 accounts?
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Yes, with the law change for individual taxation, also capital withdrawal will be taxed individually.
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Note that there is a law pending on allowing partial withdrawals. It already was voted upon in the parliament, the federal council just has to do itâs job.
For anyone interested: Teilbezug von Vorsorgegeldern ermöglichen
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That would be interesting and allow this âcreating multiple accountsâ burden to stop