Steuer-Zerleger/CH/pillar-3a/pension-or-lump-sum/lump-sum-withdrawal/property-gains-tax/inheritance-tax/tax-by-municipality, all calculators

How much tax do you save today with pillar 3a or a pension fund buy-in – and what does the withdrawal cost later? Franc by franc, by federal, cantonal, municipal and church tax.Pillar 3a and pension fund buy-ins: save now, pay later – all cantons and all municipalities.Not just a number – see how your income and wealth tax comes about, franc by franc: federal, cantonal, municipal and church tax, bracket by bracket. All 26 cantons, all municipalities.Income and wealth tax bracket by bracket – all cantons and all municipalities.How much tax does a payout from your pension fund, pillar 3a or vested benefits cost? One-off and separate from your salary – broken down block by block into federal, cantonal, municipal and church tax.Lump-sum withdrawal tax block by block – all cantons and all municipalities.A lifelong pension or a lump sum from your pension fund? What you keep after all taxes – compared year by year, with federal, cantonal, municipal and church tax.Pension or lump sum: what you keep after all taxes – all cantons and all municipalities.How much property gains tax will you pay when you sell your flat or house? Gain, period of ownership and tax scale broken down – with cantonal, municipal and church tax where they apply.Property gains tax when you sell – all cantons and all municipalities.How much tax is due when you inherit or receive a gift? Tax-free amount, tax scale and municipality broken down – for every relationship, with a comparison of all 26 cantons.Inheritance and gift tax – all 26 cantons, every relationship.One household, every municipality: what your profile pays in income and wealth tax in each municipality in Switzerland – as a map, canton comparison and ranking.One household in all municipalities – map and ranking.

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Pension or lump sum? Compare your pension fund after tax

Lifelong pension or lump-sum withdrawal from your pension fund (second pillar)? The calculator compares what you keep each year after income, wealth and capital withdrawal tax, with the break-even age. It works out the taxes for your municipality – you don't enter any tax rates.

What would you like to calculate?

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Examples

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R1Overview

Compare this household across all municipalities ›

One-off tax on the payout · separate from other income

Estimate only, not adviceEarly withdrawal for home ownership (WEF) is taxed in the same way

Pension or lump sum? Compare what is left after all taxes ›

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R2Who takes how much

R3Staggering

R4Lump sum in blocks of 50,000

InfoGood to know about lump-sum withdrawals

Early withdrawal for a home (WEF)

An early withdrawal from a pension fund or pillar 3a for home ownership is taxed in the same way as a payout and added to your other withdrawals in the same calendar year. If you later repay an early withdrawal from the pension fund, the tax you paid is refunded on request, without interest; this right lapses 3 years after the repayment (Art. 83a BVG). The repayment is not deductible from income, and an early withdrawal from pillar 3a cannot be repaid. The calculator does not include the repayment.

Buy-in before withdrawal

If you bought into your pension fund in the 3 years before the withdrawal, the tax authority may reverse the deduction for the buy-in (Art. 79b para. 3 BVG). This is not included here.

Pension or lump sum?

A pension is taxed every year together with your other income; a lump sum is taxed once, separately.

Pension instead of lump sum?

After the withdrawal

The withdrawal, after tax, counts as part of your wealth (wealth tax) – for the first time on the reference date of 31 December of the year of withdrawal; interest and returns from it are income.

Staggering and tax avoidance

Staggered withdrawals are common, for example across several pillar 3a accounts or partial withdrawals from the pension fund. If withdrawals are split up only to save tax, the tax authority may in an individual case treat this as tax avoidance and add the withdrawals together.

Estimate only, not advice

Calculated according to the rules of each canton and checked against the FTA calculator; the tax assessment is what counts. Not taken into account: residence abroad (tax at source) and benefits for surviving dependants or in the event of invalidity.

R2Who takes how much

R3Per franc more or less

R4Income in tax brackets

Tip: tap or hover over rows, bands and bars to see the details.

R5Marginal-rate steps

Use the left and right arrow keys to move the income; Home and End jump to the edge.

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Map base: Federal Statistical Office (FSO), ThemaKart set 2026; © swisstopo (swissBOUNDARIES3D, official building address directory)

How the Steuer-Zerleger calculates: explanation, questions and examples for 2026

How the Steuer-Zerleger calculates

Pension or lump sum from your pension fund: the calculator compares both options after all taxes at your place of residence, year by year from retirement. You don’t need to enter any tax rates; it works them out for your municipality.

With the pension, you pay income tax every year on the pension, OASI and other income. With the lump sum, the lump-sum tax is due once, followed every year by wealth tax on the remaining capital and income tax on the taxable part of the return. The calculator assumes that with the lump sum you spend the same amount each year as you would keep with the pension after all taxes. This gives the lead of the lump sum in today’s francs: positive as long as the lump sum is ahead, negative once the pension is ahead. The age at which it falls to zero is the break-even age (‘Lump sum lasts until’).

The share of people of the same age who reach this age comes from the 2023 cohort life tables of the Federal Statistical Office – a statistic, not a statement about you. The return is the strongest lever; so the calculator also works with 0–4%, with a poor first stock-market year, with other lifespans and with partial withdrawals in steps of 10%.

Return, the taxable share of investment income and inflation are assumptions that you can change. It is a neutral tax comparison, not investment or pension advice.

Frequently asked questions

Pension or lump sum: what is the difference for tax?

A pension is taxed every year together with your other income, so in the top brackets. The lump sum is taxed once on withdrawal, separately from other income and with its own tax scale (at federal level, one fifth of the income tax scale). After that, wealth and investment income cost tax on an ongoing basis. How this balances out over the years depends on the location, the return and your lifespan – the calculator shows it year by year.

What does ‘Lump sum lasts until’ mean?

This is the break-even age: the age at which the lead of the lump sum falls to zero. Until then you have more with the lump sum than with the pension, if you spend the same amount each year. If you live longer, the pension is ahead. Next to it you see how many out of 100 people of the same age reach that age. What goes to your heirs in the event of an earlier death is shown by the lead at end of life.

What return and inflation does the calculator assume?

The default is a 2% return after costs, half of it taxable, and 1% inflation; you can change all three. For comparison: from 2014 to 2025, pension funds achieved between −9.07% (2022) and +10.60% (2019) a year. That is why the calculator also works out the same question with 0–4% and with a poor first stock-market year. The pension fund pension stays the same in nominal terms unless the fund increases it.

Where does the information on lifespans come from?

From the 2023 cohort life tables of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) for people born from 1955 to 1968. They show how many people born in a given year who turn 65 reach a certain age. This is a statistic for the population, not a statement about individuals. If no sex is specified, the calculator uses the average of women and men – in Ticino and Valais a man, because the capital tax there depends on sex; for couples, what counts is whether at least one person reaches the age.

Can I take only part as a lump sum?

A quarter of the mandatory (BVG) retirement assets is guaranteed by law as a lump sum; more only if your pension fund’s regulations allow it. The calculator shows the partial withdrawal in slices from 10% to 100%: lump-sum tax, the pension tax that is no longer due and how long each slice lasts. With partial retirement, the lump sum can be withdrawn in at most three steps; each year is taxed separately.

By when do I have to decide?

That is set by your pension fund’s regulations; the law sets no deadline. After that, the choice usually cannot be changed. Married people need the written consent of their spouse. A pension fund buy-in in the 3 years before the lump-sum withdrawal is added back for tax purposes. The calculator only shows the tax consequences, not the conditions of your fund.

What does the calculator not take into account?

Drawing OASI early or deferring it, OASI contributions as a non-employed person before the reference age, children’s and orphan’s pensions from the pension fund, special pensioner deductions in individual cantons, inheritance taxes and supplementary benefits. With children, the calculation is therefore rather too unfavourable for the pension. All assumptions are shown openly under the tiles (‘all assumptions ›’).

Pension or lump sum: lump-sum tax and break-even age in 2026 in the 26 cantonal capitals

Single, retirement assets of CHF 500,000, withdrawn at 65 in 2026: entirely as a lump sum or as a pension with a conversion rate of 5.2%. OASI CHF 32,760 a year, other wealth CHF 100,000, return 2% after costs, inflation 1%, without church tax. All amounts in today’s francs, under the page’s assumptions. End of life at age 90: the age reached by half of people of the same age (FSO). A statistic of the tax consequences, not advice.

Pension or lump sum: lump-sum tax and break-even age in 2026 in the 26 cantonal capitals
Cantonal capitalLump-sum tax CHFRateTax on the pension in the first year CHFLump sum lasts until (age)Lead at end of life CHF
Lausanne (VD)41,9468.39%7,34994+62,507
Solothurn (SO)38,8517.77%5,96993+52,022
Liestal (BL)33,6016.72%5,98693+52,228
Genève (GE)37,0517.41%5,88092+43,242
Neuchâtel (NE)42,2768.46%6,76392+35,084
Chur (GR)28,5015.70%4,84792+38,766
Luzern (LU)29,7575.95%4,64092+35,424
Fribourg (FR)46,5019.30%6,08892+32,784
Basel (BS)47,2519.45%5,92492+32,174
Bern (BE)41,2598.25%5,55192+32,767
Stans (NW)27,5465.51%4,22992+34,520
Bellinzona (TI)35,3417.07%5,24591+47,188
St. Gallen (SG)37,2317.45%5,32491+30,300
Delémont (JU)48,1829.64%5,64991+25,542
Schaffhausen (SH)26,2415.25%3,96791+27,262
Sion (VS)43,9208.78%5,68891+38,706
Altdorf (UR)29,0265.81%4,06491+24,820
Frauenfeld (TG)40,6218.12%4,86691+23,909
Aarau (AG)39,8987.98%4,58991+23,798
Appenzell (AI)25,7015.14%3,74991+19,654
Sarnen (OW)36,0977.22%4,03591+19,254
Glarus (GL)34,6416.93%4,58591+18,310
Zürich (ZH)35,0687.01%3,90191+17,943
Herisau (AR)49,5439.91%4,96290+8,458
Schwyz (SZ)36,6857.34%2,88389−7,711
Zug (ZG)28,2535.65%2,00489−9,661
  • Ticino and Valais: calculated for a man, end of life at age 89.