I realized that in 2021, I accidentally contributed twice to my Postfiance 3rd pillar account. (Each time I put in the max). Does anyone know what happens in this case? I tried to reach out to Postfinance about this but was not able to reach anyone.
You get refused the tax deduction on your account. To be sure, talk to your tax office.
If you declare it then you get a nice message from your tax office that it is too much and you send the letter to your third pillar supplier asking for a refund.
I once mistakenly overpaid by 2 chf. My bank immediately refunded the money as overpaying isn't permitted.
You can pay more but can only tax deduct the max amount. You can ask your third pillar institution to refund it.
The overpayment will be refunded. However, it might take until after your taxes have been finalized, since the total amount you can contribute to 3rd pillar depends on whether you are employed or self-employed.
I have done the same, they refund you back when they make the checks.
If the bank does not refund you, you simply declare both payments in the tax return, submit the statements and wait for the letter that this is not possible. Than request reimbursement from the bank. As others have said: a standard procedure.
Thanks everyone. So I don't need to go and withdraw anything pre-emptively then?
No.
Their records should make the issue selfevident.
That said, if you plan to stay in Switzerland, or if that's a possibility in your life plan, you may want to open more than one 3a account. There's no difference while contributing, but at pension age it enables to you to spread the withdrawals over multiple years, which is advantageous.
IIRC you can withdraw 3a from age 65 until 70, only the entire account can be paid out. So if you have six accounts you can have one paid out each year. You want to verify this before opening a full host.