After 5 years at a salaried job in Zurich, I quit to start my own business in October 2012. I transferred the money from my 2nd pillar pension account into a "Freizugigkeitskonto" or vested benefits account with ZKB.
My understanding was that I could then invest this money in my business. I didn't need to do so immediately because I had other savings, but recently I decided it was time to use that money.
However, when I called ZKB they told me that:
1. you can only invest in an Einzelfirma. (Unaware of this requirement, I created a GmbH in July 2013.)
2. there's a time limit of 1 year from creation of the Freizugigkeitskonto.
So now I'm slightly panicking that I might not be able to use this significant amount of money that I'd been counting on.
The most direct solution to problem 1 would be to dissolve the GmbH and revert to being considered an Einzelfirma. This would be easy-ish since I have no employees, but doesn't solve problem 2.
So my plan is:
* Open a pension plan for my GmbH, transfer the money into it
* Immediately dissolve the GmbH and pension plan, transfer the money into a new Freizugigkeitskonto
* Transfer the money to my personal account, as an Einzelfirma investment
* Re-create the GmbH
Does anyone know if this would work? I've asked my accountant about it a couple of times, but they were bewildered by this apparently unusual situation and haven't been able to give me any useful advice.
My understanding was that I could then invest this money in my business. I didn't need to do so immediately because I had other savings, but recently I decided it was time to use that money.
However, when I called ZKB they told me that:
1. you can only invest in an Einzelfirma. (Unaware of this requirement, I created a GmbH in July 2013.)
2. there's a time limit of 1 year from creation of the Freizugigkeitskonto.
So now I'm slightly panicking that I might not be able to use this significant amount of money that I'd been counting on.
The most direct solution to problem 1 would be to dissolve the GmbH and revert to being considered an Einzelfirma. This would be easy-ish since I have no employees, but doesn't solve problem 2.
So my plan is:
* Open a pension plan for my GmbH, transfer the money into it
* Immediately dissolve the GmbH and pension plan, transfer the money into a new Freizugigkeitskonto
* Transfer the money to my personal account, as an Einzelfirma investment
* Re-create the GmbH
Does anyone know if this would work? I've asked my accountant about it a couple of times, but they were bewildered by this apparently unusual situation and haven't been able to give me any useful advice.