Through Decree 2322 of 2022, issued by the President of the Republic, a paragraph was added to Article 2.2.3.1.7 of Decree 1833 of 2016, which modifies the maximum amount for making contributions to health and pension: it will be 25 current legal monthly minimum wages. However, it will be extended to 45 current legal monthly minimum wages when two conditions are met simultaneously.
- That the real growth of the Colombian economy exceeds 4% during at least the last three fiscal years.
- That fiscal expenditure on pensions is less than two percentage points of GDP.
Now, through Article 5 of Law 797 of 2003, it was established that the maximum contribution base income to the comprehensive social security system would be 25 SMMLV, also indicating that, for those persons earning more than 25 current legal monthly minimum wages, the contribution base would be regulated by the National Government, which could establish a maximum contribution limit of up to 45 SMMLV to guarantee pensions of a maximum of 25 SMMLV.
However, such regulation had not been carried out since 2003. Therefore, in compliance with the judgment issued on September 23, 2021, by the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the Council of State with file number 2020-270-02, the President of the Republic issued Decree 2322 of 2022, which regulates this situation.
Additionally, the Constitutional Court, in judgment C-078 of 2017, stated that, from a systematic reading of the norm, it can be concluded that it allows the National Government, through new regulations, to increase the IBC for contributions between 25 and 45 SMMLV, thereby ensuring access to a pension benefit of up to 25 SMMLV, since that entity is responsible for directing and coordinating the public social security service and it is the one that must organize state finances to meet the pension liability and ensure financial sustainability of the system.