Payroll in Argentina 2026: aportes, contributions, Ganancias, SAC

In Argentina the employer deducts the employee's aportes (17% of gross pay for pension, PAMI and the obra social) and withholds income tax (Ganancias) where it applies. On top of gross pay it pays contribuciones of 18% or 20.40%, 6% for the obra social and the ART premium, and files and pays everything monthly with ARCA on the F.931.

Payroll in Argentina at a glance

Social security: aportes and contribuciones

Employer rate. Article 19 of Ley 27.541 sets one combined rate for the pension, PAMI, employment fund and family-allowance subsystems: 20.40% for private employers whose main activity is services or commerce and whose sales exceed the limits of a medium-sized company, and 18% for all other private employers, who must hold a valid MiPyME certificate. For each worker the employer first deducts ARS 7,003.68 from the base (ARS 17,509.20 in some textile, footwear, health and farm sectors), and employers with up to 25 employees deduct a further ARS 10,000 a month from their total base.

Obra social. The employee pays 3%, plus 1.5% for each additional family member they add, and the employer 6% (Ley 23.660).

Ceilings. The employee's aportes are calculated up to a maximum monthly base that is updated periodically; employer contributions apply to the full salary, and a minimum base applies to both.

Fondo de Asistencia Laboral (FAL). The labour modernisation law (Ley 27.802, published on 6 March 2026) creates individual employer funds to help pay severance. From the November 2026 payroll, employers pay 2.5% (MiPyMEs) or 1% (other private employers) of the pension base into their FAL account, with the F.931 and on the same due date. The same amount is deducted from their social security contributions, so the total cost does not change (ARCA General Resolution 5907/2026).

New hires (RIFL). For qualifying new hires, such as workers with no registered job on 10 December 2025 or unemployed for six months, the same law lets the employer pay only 2% for pension, employment fund and family allowances and 3% for PAMI for the first 48 months. The regime is open for one year from the first day of the second month after the law took effect.

Income tax on salaries: Ganancias withholding

Employees pay income tax on their wages (fourth-category Ganancias), and the employer withholds it under ARCA's General Resolution 4003. The calculation is cumulative: each month the employer adds up the year's net pay, after the employee's aportes, subtracts the deductions accrued to date, applies the scale accumulated to that month and withholds the difference from what it has already withheld. The amounts are updated twice a year by inflation; the first band was about ARS 166,669 a month from January to June 2026 and about ARS 194,746 a month from July.

The annual 2026 scale used for the final settlement (article 94 of the income tax law) is:

The main 2026 annual deductions for an employee are the non-taxable minimum of ARS 6,019,671.36 and the special deduction of ARS 28,894,422.56, ARS 34,914,093.92 in total or about ARS 2,909,508 a month, plus an extra special deduction of one twelfth of those amounts. Family deductions add ARS 5,669,323.06 for a spouse and ARS 2,859,060.31 per child.

Minimum wage, working time and mandatory pay

Minimum wage (SMVM). Resolution 4/2026 of the national wage council, published on 2 September 2026, sets the minimum for a full-time monthly worker:

Pay must also follow the scale of the applicable collective agreement for each category; the SMVM is the floor for a full-time worker.

SAC (aguinaldo). The sueldo anual complementario is paid in two instalments, due on 30 June and 18 December, each equal to 50% of the highest monthly salary of the semester.

Working time and overtime. The normal limit is 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week. Overtime is paid with a 50% surcharge on ordinary days and 100% on Saturdays after 1 pm, Sundays and public holidays. Since Ley 27.802, employer and employee can agree in writing on an hours bank or time off in lieu.

Vacations. 14 calendar days up to 5 years of service, 21 days up to 10, 28 days up to 20 and 35 days after that. They are granted between 1 October and 30 April with at least 30 days' notice, and can be split into blocks of at least 7 days.

Monthly payroll calendar and filings

1. 1On hiring: register each worker with ARCA through Simplificación Registral, which the 2026 law makes the single valid labour registration.
2. 2Every pay day: pay within 4 working days of the end of the month, into a bank account in the worker's name, and hand over a recibo de sueldo. Since Ley 27.802 it can be signed digitally and must also show the employer's contributions for that worker, besides the employer's and worker's details (CUIT, CUIL, category, start date), the gross pay, each deduction and the net pay in figures and words.
3. 3Monthly: prepare the F.931 in Declaración en línea, which every employer must use; it starts from the last return plus the month's hires and leavers, and you pay it by electronic payment slip (VEP) on the date in ARCA's annual calendar. From the November 2026 period the FAL contribution is included in the same F.931 and payment.
4. 4Libro de Sueldos Digital: ARCA is phasing in the digital payroll book, which builds the libro de sueldos y jornales and the F.931 from your payroll data; employers that must use it are notified through their electronic tax address.
5. 5Each semester: pay the SAC by 30 June and 18 December.

Worked example: ARS 2,000,000 a month

A single employee with no dependants earns ARS 2,000,000 a month in October 2026 at an SME with more than 25 staff that pays the 18% rate. They are not a RIFL hire, and their pay is below the maximum base for aportes.

No Ganancias is withheld because the month's net pay of ARS 1,660,000 is well below the deductions of about ARS 2,909,508 a month. A large service or commerce company would pay 20.40% instead, ARS 406,571.25. From November 2026, about ARS 50,000 of the 18% goes to the employer's FAL account, and the total stays the same. In December the SAC adds ARS 1,000,000 of gross pay.

Common mistakes

1. 1Using the wrong employer rate: 20.40% applies to large service and commerce employers, and ARCA asks employers on the 18% rate to hold a valid MiPyME certificate.
2. 2Forgetting the ARS 7,003.68 deduction per worker, or applying it to the obra social, which is calculated on the full salary.
3. 3Withholding Ganancias month by month instead of on the cumulative annual basis with the current semester's amounts.
4. 4Paying the SAC late or calculating it on the last salary instead of the highest of the semester.
5. 5Forgetting the FAL from the November 2026 period, or the ID FAL that has to be reported in Simplificación Registral before the first payment.
6. 6Using last month's SMVM: it rises every month until April 2027.

How Clientlly helps

Clientlly ships a built-in payroll profile for Argentina, checked against official sources on 1 October 2026: the 2026 Ganancias scale and deductions as modelled, employee aportes and employer contributions, the aportes ceiling and the minimum wage. It calculates gross to net and employer contributions, produces payslips and supports recurring payroll adjustments as well as employee and payroll imports; an administrator can adjust the rates in the payroll tax settings.

The profile models one employee in a primary job, single, without dependants, at national level, with Ganancias as monthly bands rather than ARCA's cumulative calculation, so collective agreements, the SAC, family deductions, RIFL and the FAL split must be checked.

Alongside payroll, the human resources module handles leave requests and approvals with a leave calendar and keeps HR documents, and attendance and time tracking records working hours and overtime. To close the books after each payroll run, see our month-end close checklist.