INSS retirees will have a 10.16% readjustment and the ceiling will rise to R$ 7,087

INSS (National Social Security Institute) retirees and pensioners with benefits above the minimum wage (from R$ 1,100 until December 31, 2021) will have an adjustment of 10.16% this year.

The increase also applies to disability benefits, such as sick pay, and will be applied in full to all those who were already receiving their payments on January 1, 2021.

The variation is equivalent to the INPC (National Consumer Price Index) registered from January to December of last year and which measures the impact of price variation for families with income between one and five minimum wages.

The index was released this Tuesday (11) by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) and will also readjust the INSS ceiling, which is the maximum value for both social security benefits and contributions paid to Social Security.

From the current BRL 6,443.57, the ceiling will be BRL 7,087.22 as of January 1st.

For those who earn the minimum wage, the new amount was set at R$ 1,212 by provisional measure signed by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) on December 31, 2021. According to the INSS, currently, 23.4 million benefits receive payment in the same amount. to the minimum wage. In all, the institute makes 36 million monthly payments.

The variation in the minimum wage and benefits was 10.18%, slightly above the 10.16% of the INPC variation last year. Despite the increase above the minimum wage, policyholders who earn the minimum wage will not have a real gain. About BRL 2 of the readjusted amount refers to the compensation owed by the government last year, when inflation was higher than expected.

In a few days, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the INSS will formalize the proportional readjustment percentages, which will be paid to policyholders with benefits granted as of February. As these policyholders did not receive 12 months of INSS payments, the readjustment percentage is lower, calculated in relation to the insured person’s time as a Social Security beneficiary.

INSS policyholders will start receiving their readjusted benefits from January 25, when those earning the minimum wage have their deposits referring to the February payroll. Whoever receives more than the floor will have the first benefit with the 10.16%% readjustment as of February 1st.

To know the exact date of payment, the insured person must consult the number of his benefit and consider only the penultimate digit – the INSS discards the digit. The benefit number is 10 digits long and appears in the following format: 999,999,999-9.

The new minimum wage does not only affect pensions. Other payments, such as unemployment insurance, the payment of individual microentrepreneurs (MEI), the amount of the PIS/Pasep allowance and the limit for receiving judicial arrears beforehand are also adjusted by the minimum wage.

The RPVs (Requisitions of Small Value), as arrears are called in the judiciary, are paid in the Federal Court on a monthly basis and are limited to 60 minimum wages. If the value of the minimum wage is maintained, they will increase from R$ 66 thousand to R$ 72,720.

In unemployment insurance, the new value will be used in requests made from this Tuesday (11). To calculate the benefit paid to the worker, the government calculates the average of the three salaries prior to dismissal and then applies a reduction, according to the pay range.

For self-employed workers registered as MEI, the base contribution will be R$ 60.60, the same amount provided for low-income housewives, who pay the INSS 5% of the minimum wage. In the case of MEI, there is an increase of R$ 1 for those who work with commerce and industry (referring to ICMS), R$ 5 for the service sector, or R$ 6 for those who work with both sectors.