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Change in the Calculation of the Salary Allowance Alters Income Criteria, Unlinks the Minimum Wage Limit, and Creates a Gradual Transition That May Reduce the Number of Beneficiaries Over the Next Decade, According to Official Projections Presented by the Government.
The access rule for the PIS/Pasep salary allowance will undergo changes starting from the 2026 calendar.
The main adjustment is in the income criterion, which will no longer be linked to the minimum wage and will be adjusted solely by inflation measured by the INPC.
The starting point will be the amount of R$ 2,640, currently equivalent to two minimum wages in 2023.
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The change was approved by Congress as part of the fiscal package discussed at the end of 2024.
Although the new methodology will take effect in 2025, its practical effects will only impact workers starting in 2026.
This occurs because the program considers the remuneration of the base year, which is always two years prior to the payment.
According to the projections presented by the government, the change creates a gradual process of restricting the eligible public.
The official estimate indicates that, by around 2035, the income limit for the allowance will effectively correspond to about one and a half minimum wages.
This movement may significantly reduce the number of beneficiaries compared to the previous model.
Operation of the PIS/Pasep Salary Allowance
The salary allowance is a benefit paid annually to private sector workers, through PIS, and to public servants, through Pasep.
The amount is not uniform.
It depends on the number of months worked in the base year and can reach, at most, one minimum wage.
The calculation considers the division of the minimum wage in effect at the time of payment by 12.
The result is multiplied by the number of months worked in the reference period.
Those who worked the entire base year receive the full amount.
Those who worked fewer months receive a proportional amount.
In addition to the income criterion, access to the benefit requires that the worker has been registered in the PIS/Pasep for at least five years.
It is also necessary to have engaged in paid activity for at least 30 days in the base year.
Another requirement is that the data must be correctly reported by the employer in official systems, such as RAIS or eSocial.
Until the payment calendar of 2025, the main income filter was the average monthly remuneration of up to two minimum wages.
In the case of the benefit paid in 2025, for example, the limit was R$ 2,640, referring to the income of 2023.
Change in Income Criterion Starting in 2026
The main change lies in the unlinking of the income ceiling from the minimum wage.
Starting in 2026, the limit will no longer follow the adjustments of the minimum wage.
The ceiling will be updated exclusively by the INPC, the official inflation index calculated by IBGE.
This model creates a difference between the growth rate of the minimum wage and the update rate of the allowance ceiling.
This occurs whenever there are adjustments above inflation.
According to government technicians, this difference tends to gradually reduce the number of workers covered by the program over the years.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the transition was designed to occur progressively.
The goal, according to the official explanation, is to avoid an abrupt exclusion of beneficiaries.
The initial amount of R$ 2,640 will be adjusted annually by the INPC.
This process will continue until it converges to a level equivalent to one and a half minimum wages.
Salary Allowance Ceiling in 2026
With the accumulated INPC of 2024 at 4.77%, the estimated income ceiling for the 2026 calendar rises to R$ 2,765.92.
This means that workers whose average monthly remuneration exceeds this amount in the considered base year will be excluded from the allowance payment in that cycle.
The use of the base year often generates doubts among workers.
The benefit does not take into account the current salary.
The analysis considers the average income recorded two years earlier.
Thus, even with the rule already in effect, its effects appear only when the data from the reference period is processed.
Government Justification and Fiscal Impact
When presenting the proposal, the government argued that the minimum wage valuation policy has expanded the reach of the allowance over the years.
According to the official justification, the benefit has begun to encompass workers with higher incomes than the originally targeted public.
The change, according to the Ministry of Finance, aims to concentrate resources in lower income brackets.
Another cited goal is to contain the growth of mandatory expenses.
In documents sent to Congress, the ministry estimated that, in a comparative scenario, about 3 million people would stop receiving the allowance by 2030 compared to the old model.
The government itself highlights that the effective number of beneficiaries will depend on factors such as labor market, average income, and level of formalization.
According to the official projections, the savings from the reformulation of the allowance and the new minimum wage adjustment rules could reach R$ 24.8 billion between 2025 and 2030.
This calculation is framed within the context of the Sustainable Fiscal Regime.
Rules That Remain Valid for the Worker
Despite the change in the income criterion, the calculation formula for the benefit remains the same.
The amount continues to be linked to the minimum wage.
Payments will continue to be proportional to the number of months worked in the base year.
There is no change in the logic applied to those who remain eligible.
The government also clarified that the reformulation of the allowance does not affect other labor rights.
Items such as 13th salary, vacation, and FGTS remain unaffected.
The change exclusively impacts access to the benefit.
With the gradual implementation of the new rule, attention is likely to focus on the practical effects of the transition.
This is especially true in a scenario of wage adjustments that may push formal workers outside the program’s limit over the coming years.
How will this progressive reduction of beneficiaries be perceived in the day-to-day of the formal labor market?
Salário p presidiário ok. Bolsa família ok p trabalhador só pnc por isso muitas empresas nao estão conseguindo funcionários, ninguém mais quer trabalhar, não compensa.
Com certeza a vantagem é do governo,governo sempre dificultando o lado do trabalhador.
A situação tá difícil pra gente