On July 7th, an Agreement titled “ACDO.AS2.HCT.260623/160.P.DIR” was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation by the Technical Council of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). The purpose of this Agreement is to provide guidance to employers regarding exclusions from the contribution base salary of payments that exceed the maximum amount of workers’ participation in company profits and payments made in the form of productivity bonuses or any other nature as per Article 27 of the Social Security Law.
The key points to consider in the Agreement are as follows:
- Regarding workers’ participation in company profits, if the amount paid to employees exceeds the maximum limit determined in the recent outsourcing reform, which is three months of salary or the average of the last three years of earnings, and the employer decides not to deduct the excess amount, that sum will no longer be considered as Profit Sharing (PTU). Instead, it becomes a bonus and must be included in the contribution base salary.
- In addition, the Agreement states that there are employer practices where monetary amounts are paid to workers, which are recorded in accounting as PTU payments. However, if these partial payments are made outside the deadlines for PTU payments (sixty days after the deadline for filing the annual Income Tax), they lose their PTU nature and must be included in the contribution base salary for IMSS.
- Regarding productivity bonuses, also known as incentives, commissions, bonuses, or gratuities, the Agreement clarifies that these benefits are directly related to workers’ job performance and service provision, regardless of the payment method. Even if these bonuses are given to workers through meal vouchers or gift cards, they must be included in the contribution base salary, regardless of the form of payment.
- Finally, the Agreement establishes that the following actions will be considered improper tax practices in the field of social security:
- Exclude from the contribution base salary payments exceeding the maximum worker participation in company profits.
- Pay workers’ profit-sharing outside the timeframe established in Article 122 of the Federal Labor Law, whether before or after the designated period.
- Exclude from the contribution base salary payments made as productivity bonuses or of any other nature.
- Issue an opinion of “compliance without qualifications” by an authorized public accountant in the social security audit report for employers who engage in any of the mentioned conduct.
You can download the full Agreement published in the Official Gazette of the Federation for further reference.
