Pillar 3a in Biel/Bienne and Neuchâtel, what you really save

Pillar 3a works the same way in Biel/Bienne as in Neuchâtel. Every franc you pay in is deducted from your taxable income, for federal tax as well as for cantonal and municipal tax. What changes from one place to the other is how much that deduction actually saves you.

A federal ceiling, cantonal tax scales

In 2026, an employee who belongs to a pension fund can pay in up to CHF 7,258. A self-employed person without a pension fund can pay in up to 20% of their net income, up to a maximum of CHF 36,288. These ceilings are the same throughout Switzerland. The saving, however, depends on your marginal tax rate, in other words the rate applied to the last francs of your income. And that rate depends on the canton's tax scale and your municipality's coefficient.

Biel/Bienne and Neuchâtel, two cantons, two calculations

Biel/Bienne applies the tax scale of the canton of Bern, Neuchâtel that of the canton of Neuchâtel. On the same income, the same deduction therefore does not produce the same saving on either side of the cantonal border. And within each canton, the municipality and your family situation change the result again. That is why a general figure is worth nothing without your own tax return.

Three habits, whatever your canton

• Pay in early in the year, so the capital has longer to work.
• Open several 3a accounts, so you can stagger withdrawals at retirement and reduce the tax on them.
• Check every year which ceiling applies to your status, employee or self-employed.

Our tax saving simulator gives you a first order of magnitude. For an exact figure, we start from your latest tax return, in Biel/Bienne, in Neuchâtel or online.