Payroll Services in Venezuela
Fully managed Venezuelan payroll – pay converted to bolívars at the Central Bank rate, the 9% pensions contribution, IVSS, FAOV and INCES filed on time, and every statutory benefit calculated, with a named specialist a phone call away.
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What Venezuelan payroll actually involves
Venezuelan payroll runs in two currencies. Pay is often set in US dollars, the law requires salary in bolívars, and every contribution is calculated in bolívars at the Central Bank rate. Most of the government’s minimum income is paid as bonuses, and the largest employer contribution, introduced in 2024, applies to salary and bonuses alike.
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Calculate Your Employee Costs in Venezuela
Enter a gross annual salary in US dollars, paid in bolívars at the Central Bank rate, to see the employer cost of a Venezuelan employee: the 9% pensions contribution, FAOV and INCES, the Cestaticket, and the minimum profit share, vacation bonus and severance guarantee. IVSS and employment regime contributions, charged only on the first Bs 650 and Bs 1,300 of monthly salary, are left out.
Employment Cost Calculator
*Indicative figures only and not definitive legal advice. Local regulations change frequently. Consult an expertVenezuela
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Employer Costs in Venezuela Explained
An employee paid entirely in salary costs about 46% to 54% on top of it in Venezuela. The largest items are benefits rather than contributions: the severance guarantee adds 18.75% of salary, the minimum profit share 8.3% and the vacation bonus 4.2%. Contributions add about 13%, mostly the 9% pensions contribution, which also applies to bonuses, and the USD 40 Cestaticket weighs most on lower salaries. Social security contributions are capped so low in bolívars that they come to cents. Here’s the breakdown.
The Pensions Protection Law of May 2024 requires companies and other private legal entities to pay a special contribution on everything they pay their workers, salary and non-salary bonuses alike. The law allows up to 15% and a presidential decree set the rate at 9%. For each worker, the base can never be lower than the minimum integral income set by the government, USD 240 a month since May 2026. The employer pays it alone, and it is deductible for income tax.
The contribution is declared and paid monthly to SENIAT, the tax authority, on a calendar set by the last digit of the company’s tax number (RIF): in 2026 the due dates fall between the 12th and the 30th of the following month. Payments made in foreign currency are converted at the Central Bank rate on the day they are paid.
The Venezuelan Social Security Institute (IVSS) charges 9%, 10% or 11% to the employer, depending on the company’s risk class, and 4% to the employee, on salary up to five minimum wages. The employment regime adds 2% and 0.5% on salary up to ten minimum wages. With the minimum wage still at Bs 130, those ceilings are Bs 650 and Bs 1,300 a month, so both contributions come to cents in dollar terms.
The housing savings fund (FAOV) takes 2% from the employer and 1% from the employee on total monthly salary, with no ceiling. Employers with five or more workers pay 2% of salaries to INCES, the national training institute, and withhold 0.5% of each employee’s profit share for it. Employers register with the IVSS, the housing bank and INCES before the first payroll.
For an employee on a salary of USD 1,000 a month, paid in bolívars, the employer pays USD 144.85 a month in contributions, including the 9% on the Cestaticket, profit share and vacation bonus, pays USD 40 of Cestaticket, and accrues USD 312.50 for the minimum profit share, the vacation bonus and the severance guarantee: USD 1,497.35 in total, 49.7% on top of salary.
Many employers pay part of the package as non-salary bonuses, which do not count towards profit share, vacation bonus or severance but still carry the 9% pensions contribution. The Labour Law defines salary as any payment for work, whatever it is called, so regular bonuses can be treated as salary in a dispute.
The legal minimum wage has been Bs 130 a month since March 2022, and increases since then have come as bonuses. On 1 May 2026 the government raised the minimum integral income to USD 240 a month: the USD 40 Cestaticket food benefit plus a USD 200 economic war bonus that the state pays to public sector workers. Private employers are urged to match it, and it is the minimum base for the pensions contribution. Neither bonus counts towards salary-based benefits.
The Cestaticket itself is a legal obligation for private employers. The last amount published in the Official Gazette is Bs 1,000, from May 2023, but the Supreme Court’s Social Chamber orders it paid at USD 40 a month, converted at the Central Bank rate. Income tax on employment income runs from 6% to 34% on a scale expressed in tax units, worth Bs 43 since June 2025. Employers withhold it monthly, residents file an annual return by 31 March, and non-residents pay a flat 34%.
The Labour Law sets a five-day week with two consecutive rest days: up to 8 hours a day and 40 a week for day work, 35 for night work and 37.5 for mixed shifts. Overtime carries a 50% premium and is limited to 10 hours a week and 100 a year, night work a 30% premium and work on a public holiday a 50% premium. Vacation is 15 working days after the first year, plus a day for each further year up to 30, with a vacation bonus of 15 days’ salary rising by a day a year to 30. Maternity leave is 6 weeks before birth and 20 after, and paternity leave 14 days.
Severance works as a guarantee: the employer credits 15 days’ salary every quarter, plus 2 days a year after the first year up to 30, to a trust or the company’s books. On termination for any reason, the employee receives the higher of that balance or 30 days’ last salary per year of service, within five days. A dismissal without just cause costs the same amount again as an indemnity if the employee accepts it rather than seeking reinstatement. Under the job stability decree in force until 31 December 2026, employees other than managers and seasonal or occasional staff cannot be dismissed, demoted or transferred without just cause approved in advance by a Labour Inspector.
Venezuelan employer contributions and payroll levies, 2026
| Contribution | Employer | Employee | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pensions protection contribution | 9% | — | All salary and non-salary bonuses; at least USD 240 a month per worker |
| IVSS social security | 9% to 11% | 4% | Salary up to Bs 650 a month (five minimum wages) |
| Employment regime | 2% | 0.5% | Salary up to Bs 1,300 a month (ten minimum wages) |
| Housing savings fund (FAOV) | 2% | 1% | Total monthly salary, no ceiling |
| INCES training contribution | 2% | — | Salaries, employers with five or more workers |
| INCES on profit share | — | 0.5% | Withheld from each employee’s profit share |
| Cestaticket food benefit | USD 40 a month | — | Paid in bolívars at the Central Bank rate |
Venezuelan statutory benefits and filing dates, 2026
| Item | Amount | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Profit share | 30 days’ to four months’ salary | At least 30 days by 15 December |
| Vacation | 15 working days, plus 1 a year up to 30 | After each year of service |
| Vacation bonus | 15 days’ salary, plus 1 a year up to 30 | When vacation is taken |
| Severance guarantee | 15 days a quarter, plus 2 a year after the first, up to 30 | Credited every quarter |
| Severance on termination | Higher of the guarantee or 30 days a year | Within five days of termination |
| Dismissal without just cause | Indemnity equal to the severance | If the employee does not seek reinstatement |
| Pensions protection contribution | 9% of salary and bonuses | Monthly, 12th to 30th by RIF digit |
| Income tax | 6% to 34%, tax unit of Bs 43 | Annual return by 31 March |
Employer cost of an employee in Venezuela by monthly salary, 2026
| Monthly salary | Contributions | Cestaticket | Benefit accruals | Total monthly cost | On top of salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD 500 | USD 74.23 | USD 40 | USD 156.25 | USD 770.48 | 54.1% |
| USD 1,000 | USD 144.85 | USD 40 | USD 312.50 | USD 1,497.35 | 49.7% |
| USD 2,000 | USD 286.10 | USD 40 | USD 625 | USD 2,951.10 | 47.6% |
| USD 4,000 | USD 568.60 | USD 40 | USD 1,250 | USD 5,858.60 | 46.5% |
| USD 8,000 | USD 1,133.60 | USD 40 | USD 2,500 | USD 11,673.60 | 45.9% |
Salary paid in bolívars at the Central Bank rate. Contributions are the 9% pensions contribution, also charged on the Cestaticket, profit share and vacation bonus, plus 2% FAOV and 2% INCES. Benefit accruals are the 30-day minimum profit share, a 15-day vacation bonus and the severance guarantee of 60 days a year on salary including those two items. IVSS and employment regime contributions come to under USD 0.15 a month at the Central Bank rate of 29 September 2026 and are not shown. These are TopSource calculations from the verified 2026 rates.
Rates, amounts and deadlines shown are for 2026 and were verified on 29 September 2026 against the Official Gazette, the Labour Law and published tax sources. Venezuelan pay rules change by decree and the bolívar moves daily, so amounts in bolívars and dollars can shift quickly. This page is general information, not tax or legal advice.
How our Venezuelan payroll service works
Why TopSource for Venezuelan Payroll
TopSource for payroll, Employer of Record or any other of our services represents a simpler, more reliable and transparent option.
We don’t hide fees or sneak price increases. We run Venezuelan payroll in-house and file under your own SENIAT and IVSS registrations rather than a bureau’s, so the same team that files your returns answers your calls. You get a named account manager, one consolidated monthly invoice covering salaries, contributions, taxes and fees, and one live Portico view of Venezuela beside every other country we run for you. Portico syncs with your time-tracking, leave and HR systems via API – set up by our onboarding team, not left to yours. GDPR, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certified.
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Venezuelan payroll FAQs
Companies pay a 9% pensions contribution on all salary and non-salary bonuses, 2% to the FAOV housing fund, 2% to INCES if they have five or more workers, and IVSS social security of 9% to 11% plus 2% for the employment regime. The last two are capped at five and ten minimum wages, Bs 650 and Bs 1,300 a month, so they come to cents.
The legal minimum wage is Bs 130 a month, unchanged since March 2022. The government’s minimum integral income, which adds the Cestaticket and an economic war bonus, has been USD 240 a month since 1 May 2026, paid in bolívars at the Central Bank rate. Salary-based benefits are calculated on salary only.
It is a contribution created in May 2024 that companies pay on everything they pay their workers, salary and non-salary bonuses alike. The rate is 9%, the base per worker can never be below the minimum integral income of USD 240 a month, and it is declared and paid monthly to SENIAT on a calendar set by the company’s RIF number.
The Cestaticket food benefit is paid on the basis of USD 40 a month, converted to bolívars at the Central Bank rate. The government announced that amount in 2024 without publishing it in the Official Gazette, where the last figure is Bs 1,000 from May 2023, but the Supreme Court’s Social Chamber orders employers to pay on the USD 40 basis.
The employer credits 15 days’ salary every quarter, plus 2 days a year after the first year up to 30. On termination, the employee receives the higher of that guarantee or 30 days’ last salary per year of service, within five days. A dismissal without just cause adds an indemnity equal to that amount.
Only with just cause approved in advance by a Labour Inspector, for most employees. A job stability decree in force from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2026 protects employees from their first month of service, except managers and seasonal or occasional staff. An employee dismissed without approval can seek reinstatement and back pay within 30 days.
Employees get 15 working days of paid vacation after their first year, plus a day for each further year up to 30. They also receive a vacation bonus of at least 15 days’ salary, rising by a day a year to 30, and keep receiving the Cestaticket while on vacation.
Companies distribute at least 15% of their annual net profits among their workers, with a minimum of 30 days’ and a maximum of four months’ salary per worker. For-profit employers pay at least 30 days’ salary in the first half of December as an advance, which the worker keeps even if the company makes no profit.
The Labour Law requires salary to be paid in legal currency, the bolívar. In practice many packages are set in US dollars and paid in bolívars at the Central Bank rate, and any payment made in foreign currency is converted at that rate to calculate the pensions contribution.
Registering as an employer with SENIAT, the IVSS and the housing bank requires a Venezuelan entity or branch with its own tax number (RIF). Without one, the usual route is an Employer of Record. TopSource can run payroll for your Venezuelan entity or employ your team through our Employer of Record service.
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