Social contributions
Swiss social contributions cover AHV/IV/EO (uncapped), ALV (capped), NBU (accident insurance), and BVG (2nd pillar, by age band). The rates shown are those in force for 2026; if a rule changed recently it may not be reflected here yet, and none of them has been through our final sign-off.
What comes out of a Swiss paycheck
Switzerland does not deduct one lumped “contribution” from gross pay — it deducts several separate lines, each with its own rules. Three are compulsory by law (AHV/IV/EO, ALV, BVG) and one (NBU) is paid by the employee alone. Here is the whole picture, on the rates in force for the 01.01.2026 - 31.12.2026 period.
| Contribution | Who pays | Rate (total) | Ceiling (upper limit of the base) |
|---|---|---|---|
| AHV / IV / EOold-age & survivors + disability + income-loss compensation | employer + employee (split) | 10.6% | none — no ceiling |
| ALVunemployment insurance | employer + employee (split) | 2.2% | 148'200 CHF per year |
| NBUnon-occupational accident insurance | employee (in full) | 1% | 148'200 CHF per year |
| BVG2nd pillar (occupational pension) | employer + employee (split) | — | 90'720 CHF per year |
AHV/IV/EO — one line, three insurances, no ceiling
The first and most important line bundles three insurances into a single contribution: AHV (old-age and survivors — the first pension pillar), IV (disability insurance) and EO (compensation for income lost during military service and maternity leave). Together they are charged at a single rate of 10.6%, which the employer and employee split down the middle — your share is 5.3%, deducted from your gross pay.
Here is the unusual part: AHV/IV/EO has no upper earnings limit. Most social-insurance systems cap the base, so above a certain salary you stop paying. Not here — the same rate applies to every franc, whether you earn the average or several times more. That is by design: this is insurance with a strong solidarity element, where higher earners pay in more than they will ever draw back as a pension. That is why, in the table above, AHV/IV/EO is the only line marked “no ceiling.”
ALV — unemployment insurance, but capped
ALV is unemployment insurance. The total rate is 2.2%, again split in half between employer and employee, so your share is 1.1% out of pay.
Unlike AHV/IV/EO, ALV is capped: it is charged only up to 148'200 CHF per year. On the part of your salary above that, the rate is 0% — nothing further. If you earn above the ceiling, your ALV contribution simply stops, and everything above it is untouched by this line.
NBU — the accident cover you pay yourself
NBU covers accidents away from work (accidents at work are covered by the employer through separate insurance). This is the one line the employee pays in full — the employer does not split it with you.
Read the figure in the table, 1% up to 148'200 CHF per year, with care: it is not a statutory rate. The real premium is set by the insurer the employer chooses, by the risk class of the industry, so it varies from company to company. What is shown here is the administrative assumption the tax authorities use to approximate withholding — treat it as a guide, not the exact figure on your own payslip.
BVG — the 2nd pillar, by age band
BVG is the compulsory occupational pension — the so-called 2nd pillar, on top of the state AHV pension (1st pillar). There is no single rate here: how much goes in depends on your age. The older you are, the higher the percentage, because there is less time left until retirement. The contribution is shared with the employer (who pays at least half), and the rates by band run as follows:
One caveat: these are the statutory minimum rates. Your employer’s actual pension fund may pay in more than the legal floor, so your real BVG contribution can be higher than the table shows.
| Age | Rate (of coordinated salary) |
|---|---|
| 25–34 | 7% |
| 35–44 | 10% |
| 45–54 | 15% |
| 55+ | 18% |
The coordination deduction — which slice of pay BVG applies to
BVG is not charged on your whole salary, only on the so-called coordinated salary (koordinierter Lohn). First you have to clear an entry threshold: earn less than that a year and you are not in the 2nd pillar. Then a coordination deduction (the slice AHV already covers) is subtracted from your annual salary, and the calculation runs up to an upper limit. What is left in between is the base the rates in the table above apply to.
Entry threshold (per year)
22'680 CHF
Coordination deduction
26'460 CHF
Upper limit of insured salary
90'720 CHF
Minimum coordinated salary
3'780 CHF
How this compares to the system you know
If you are used to the Serbian (or wider Balkan) payroll, where three contributions come out of pay — pension & disability (PIO), health and unemployment — the Swiss structure overlaps only in part, and one difference is decisive.
- Pension & disability → AHV/IV + BVG. What is one pension-and-disability contribution at home is split here: the state part (AHV old-age, IV disability) plus the compulsory occupational pension (BVG) as a separate, second pillar. The pension is built on two levels here, not one.
- Unemployment → ALV. This is the closest match — both are unemployment insurance. The difference is the ceiling, and that the rate here is split with the employer.
- Health → does not exist as a payroll contribution. This is the one that surprises people most. In Switzerland health insurance (KVG) is not a payslip line — everyone buys it themselves, as a private policy, and pays it out of net income. The premium does not depend on your salary but on age, canton and insurer. That is why the Swiss contributions table has no health line — it is not a rate of “zero,” it is simply not a payroll contribution at all.
On top of that comes NBU (accident insurance), which a Balkan payslip does not usually break out separately. Because of all this, comparing “what is left for me” does not work line by line — it works through the final net figure, plus the cost of the health policy you pay separately, out of what lands in your account.