Withholding tax can always be reclaimed as long as it becomes taxable somewhere else, the tax rate will usually be higher.

I have found the document, at least for Zurich. It is:
Merkblatt des kantonalen Steueramtes über die Quellenbesteuerung privatrechtlicher Vorsorgeleistungen an Personen ohne Wohnsitz oder Aufenthalt in der Schweiz
https://www.zh.ch/de/steuern-finanze...zstb-99-1.html

if you scroll down the page, you can download the whole pdf. On the last few pages, it lists where this is allowed per country. For the UK, it says:
no no no no, without any footnotes.

So if you earned less than the UK personal allowance, it would be worth reclaiming but if you covered by the privatvorsorge, it is not allowed.
But that is my understanding of this document and I might be wrong. I did ring Basel (the kanton for my Stiftung), and asked about this and they also said no.

If you fall under the public vorsorge, check out this document:
https://www.zh.ch/de/steuern-finanze...zstb-98-1.html

But I do not know when someone would fall under:
öffentlich-rechtlichem Arbeitsverhältnis
I suspect that it is if you worked for government, but whether for example University staff would fall under that, I am not sure.

Regarding reclaiming the withholding tax, it seems to depend on the kanton. There is a generic form on the national website, but in case of Zurich, they have their own rules?!

Basel does not state the limitations that Zurich does, so I am not sure if they also operate them, as I can find the Basel form but not all the rules applicable behind the scenes. I will try and find out and update the post when I do.
https://www.steuerverwaltung.bs.ch/s...formulare.html

--> Basel is interesting because PostFinance Pillar 3a is based there ("PostFinance Vorsorgestiftung 3a is a Foundation based in Basel, in the canton of Basle-City")
--> Zurich is for Rendita in Winterthur, so both are relevant here as they probably cover quite a few people on this forum.

Although I must add, it is only relevant for people who earn a very modest income overseas, as any lump sum over personal allowances in the country of residence will be taxed if you go down this route!

Edit: I have found the file with the Basel rules, it looks the same as the Zurich rules.
Google this document for Basel, then look at page 31:
19000_mb_qst_a_21-04_wegleitung_und_tarife.pdf

Still no dice for the UK! I have now figured out why. Whether you can reclaim the tax depends on the tax treaty. If the treaty assigns the exclusive rights to Switzerland, as in the case for the UK, the Swiss tax is final. This actually makes sense, as it needs to be taxed somewhere!
Wird das Besteuerungsrecht dem anderen Staat zugewiesen, ist der Quellensteuerabzug nicht definitiv und dem Empfänger der Kapitalleistung steht ein
Rückforderungsanspruch zu (vgl. separate DBA-Übersicht).

For people who wonder if they worked for a public organisation, the answer lies in here (but not sure if teachers at schools/universities are included):

Steuerbar sind alle Vergütungen, wie z.B. Renten und Kapitalleistungen, die von einem Arbeitgeber oder einer Vorsorgeeinrichtung mit Sitz in der Schweiz aufgrund eines früheren Arbeitsverhältnisses mit einem Arbeitgeber mit öffentlich-rechtlicher Stellung (Bund, Kantone, Gemeinde
und deren Anstalten oder andere Körperschaften oder Stiftungen mit öffentlich-rechtlichem
Hintergrund) ausgerichtet werden.
Sogenannte «staatsnahe Betriebe», die im Auftrag des Gemeinwesens eine öffentliche Aufgabe
wahrnehmen, gelten als öffentlich-rechtliche Arbeitgeber. Hinweise auf einen öffentlich-rechtlichen
Arbeitgeber können im Einzelfall folgende sein:
– Öffentlicher Auftrag (festgehalten z.B. in einem Gesetz oder in der Satzung des Arbeitgebers);
– Entstehung durch Verwaltungsakt oder Gesetz;
– Hoheitliche Befugnisse;
– Überwiegende Finanzierung der Tätigkeit durch den Staat bzw. durch vom Staat vorgesehene Gebühren;
– Staatlich gesicherte (Monopol-)Stellung;
– Direkte oder indirekte Beherrschung durch den Staat.


So bottom line:
this is not possible for private pension lump sum (pillar 2 nor pillar 3a) remitted to people resident in the UK and is also not even worth doing the research probably if you are in an EU state as EU taxes will for 99% of people be higher than the Swiss tax of on average say 3-6% on these pension funds. (The image is for Jan 2021)

Attached Thumbnails

 

UK Pension link:

https://assets.publishing.service.go...1DXy960iAHkRLk

Sorry I am really confused

Newly sacked, over 55, over 5 years in CH paying into company pension scheme. I understand I can transfer my ex-employer pension into a "vested benefits account" but here is my question:

1. Do I open that vested benefits account or does the ex-employer pension company? The "goodbye" letter my employer gave me said they would open an account with UBS but I plan to head back to the UK and prefer to control the pot myself; and combine all my random pension pots into one new UK-based one. UBS will just remind me of Switzerland which is painful right now!

2. If the ex-employer pension company opens a vested benefits account at what age can I get access to it to remove all the money? I have seen everything from 55, 59 and 65.....

In 2018 I worked in Switzerland and paid 2080frank with a deduction of 171frank for tax, into a pension fund. I have what looks like a statement form, with my balance (It's all in German and I can't read it) I now reside in Australia and am wondering how I claim this money back?Is there much point with taxes or fees?

If you have permanently left CH, you can request the pension plan to transfer the pension funds to you. For more information, please see this link:

https://www.ch.ch/en/withdraw-pension-early/

If you are unable to contact the pension plan, you can contact the LOB Guarantee Fund:

https://sfbvg.ch/en/