Just wondering if anyone here actually went through the process of withdrawing pillar 2 pension for house purchase (how much tax did you pay)? And repayed the amount? I believe on repayment you should get the tax back.

Just wondering if someone who went through this could say whether there were any gotchas?

I withdrew from a vested benefit account. I just paid a small amount of tax on it. A few % IIRC.

No plans to pay it back.

We used some pension money, but I couldn't tell you how much tax, if any, we paid on it. Haven't paid it back yet, but the Pillar 3a is due to expire as hubby retires soon (letter from the bank about that) so I expect most of that will go to pay back into the pension fund.

You can calculate the tax here. https://swisstaxcalculator.estv.admi...ome-wealth-tax

Use "Lump-sum payment from occupational retirement savings".

Thanks, there's a table here which shows the huge variations between cantons and amounts: https://finpension.ch/en/capital-wit...-tax-compared/

I'd be interested to know if you get your tax back from the repayment. I read that you should, but don't know anyone who has done and confirmed this.

Yes, we did. Paid taxes upon the withdrawal, then after 5 years repaid to PF and received the payback from tax office.

Yes I took out pension money, paid tax, then a few years later, while still owning the property, I paid back into my pension what I took out.

My (swiss) tax guy was pretty useless about reclaiming the tax initially paid (to the extent that he is no longer my tax guy). It look a while to get the right form but in the end I got the credit against my tax bill.

I think it's unusual to pay back while still owning, normally this is sorted out when you sell (assuming you don't buy again and transfer the pension withdrawal portion onto the next property)

would you mind sharing what form you used?

Although the question was not asked to me, I will answer here just in case it will be useful for those who might need it.
For the repayment process I've asked my Gemeinde Steueramt and received the following answer:

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For repayment, we need: a written request with the account details, register extract FTA (Eidgenössische Steuerverwaltung), WEF-RZ form, and final invoice (if available).
The forms can be requested here:
https://www.estv.admin.ch/estv/de/ho...v/kontakt.html
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Same as ipoddle mentioned, you can do everything by yourself without any services of the tax consultant

You can also pledge it instead of withdrawing I believe (as well as 3rd pillar).

I can confirm TimTim’s post. A written letter is needed and at least in Zürich, if you pay it back to your 2nd Pillar, you can claim the tax back within 3 years from the date you paid it back. Same is true if it is only a partial repayment.

We withdrew 30k and didn't notice the tax. Maybe 300 Fr.

Keep in mind you cannot make voluntary contributions until all is paid back.

Sorry for the delay. Had to find it in old tax papers.

It's form WEF-RZ from Bern Eidgenossische Bundessteuer (www.estv.admin.ch)

There is a limit on how much you can withdraw.. It can be at most 10% of the house purchase price.

The tax at least in Zurich canton is 2%.......at least for withdrawals up to 200k. I didn’t check above that

I just recently withdrew 150K for the house we just bought, my wife withdrew 50K.

The admin for both was quite different.

Me: (company run PK as it is a a large financial institution)
* Request form, signature of my wife needed notarising
*Mortgage contract, sales contract, and a contract with the PK requiring repayment if the house is sold.
*No fees

My wife:
*Just required a request form and the blocked account for transfer
*500chf admin fee.

This is not completely correct. The main restriction is that 10% of the property value have to be funded with assets from outside pillar 2 (pillar 3a can be used for these 10%, though).


If you get a mortgage for 80% of the value, pillar 2 withdrawal is indeed limited to 10%. However, if you get a mortgage e.g. for 70% of the property value to reduce mortgage payments, you can withdraw 20% from your pension fund.

None of your two statemements is correct.
Please stop spreading misinformation

Thank you for clarifying. I had read here that up to 10% of the lending value could come from Pillar 2.