By means of Decree 376 of 2021, the Ministry of Labor regularized the manner in which the payment of the remaining percentage of pension contributions made in April and May 2020 must be made by those employers and independent contractors who availed themselves of the benefit granted by Legislative Decree 558 of 2020.

Based on the foregoing, the following are the main aspects to be considered:

Term and form of payment

• From June 1^st, 2021, employers and independent contractors will have a term of 36 months to make the payment of the missing percentage, without generating interest for late payment.
• The contribution must be made 75% by the employer and 25% by the worker. In the case of independent contractors, they must assume 100% of the missing contribution.
• Both the employer and the worker may make the payment of the missing percentage and subsequently collect the contribution that should have been paid by the other party.
• Employers are entitled to deduct, without the employee's authorization, from the salary and/or social benefits liquidation, the missing amount of the contribution to be paid by the employee, which they must simply inform.
• The payment of the missing contributions may be made in different months, provided the period of 36 months established is not exceeded. Partial payments will not be accepted for any of the periods. 

Special considerations

• The payment of the missing percentage for workers who are less than 3 years away from reaching the pension age must be made without exceeding the date on which these workers become entitled.
• For companies that go into liquidation or in which the employer has declared the cessation of payments, the payment of the missing contributions must be made as a priority.
• The base contribution income will be the same as that reported in the pension system for April and May 2020.
• Any shortfall which payment has not been made before June 1^st, 2024, will generate a moratorium interest as of that date, in accordance with the provisions of article 23 of Law 100 of 1993.
• In the case of dismissed workers, the company must make the payment of the percentage that corresponds to it, being the responsibility of the former worker to make the payment of the percentage that corresponds to him/her for April and May 2020.
• Once the payment of the pending percentage has been made, such amount may be deducted from the income tax and complementary taxes of the taxable year in which the payment is made.