Hi Caribou and all,
Thanks for thread. Very interesting discussion indeed, especially since I find myself in an extremely similar situation: roughly the same age, originally from Quebec, now Swiss citizen, fair amount in the 2nd pillar (in part from buy-ins), etc. The only difference might be the desire to go back to Quebec one day 
Joking aside, I do have experience moving back to Quebec and withdrawing the capital a couple of times (not necessarily in that order though ;). My experience is of questionable quality however, since it was a long time ago, and I might not have been fully aware of the proper tax implications at the time (likely an understatement, as you’ll see). The information and suggestions found in this thread are much more useful and representative of my current understanding.
Nevertheless, just for the sake of answering your original question, and because it might contain semi-useful information:
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The first time my money was at a generic Fondation de Libre Passage (since I had been traveling for a year). The contact person was absolutely adamant that I had to prove that I was a resident of Quebec before paying out the capital (I was still listed in the Swiss phonebook for some reason). So I eventually received the payout while a resident of Quebec, and simply did not think of declaring it (yes, that stupid/naïve).
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The second time the money was still in my employer’s fund. Since I knew the pension fund manager, she told me that all she needed to see was the ‘Avis de départ’ from the commune. Given that you can obviously get that before physically leaving the country, my libre passage was paid out to my swiss bank account before even boarding a flight. For this to “work” though, I forewent the option of transiting the vested rights through Schwytz (plus the amount was not really material enough at the time). Embarrassingly enough, I did not declare that either in Quebec. To my defense, I felt like I was still a Swiss resident for tax purposes when the payout was made (i.e. a slightly more sophisticated self-delusion than the first time). I’m not sure if that’s even possible, but worth considering if conceivable.
In any case, just one more comment for now:
That’s not a bad idea, but as pointed out many times in this forum before, it’s not that straightforward unfortunately. I’m in the process of considering that myself. For starters, you do need to provide proof of three separate clients (invoices) in order to even be considered for ‘self-employed’ status (‘indépendent’). Also, keep in mind that in order to withdraw your 2nd pillar in such a case, the same ‘no buy-ins in the last three years’ rule that applies for lump sums at retirement apparently applies here as well.
Alright, lots more to say of course, but that’s a good start!
Hope this helps a little (not sure though )
Cheers.
). For instance, buying-in today gives you an almost guaranteed tax return in the very short-term (in an investment vehicle, the pension fund, that has a very peculiar return profile—positively correlated to the stock market, but with a floor), whereas your personal investments outside of the pension fund could return a lot more, albeit with more uncertainty/volatility. At this stage, even without stochastic modelling, every individual’s risk tolerance and capacity for it will come into play.